Futari no Merry-go-Round
by Pink Yuki
Summary: Fuuko went abroad and came back to ....
1. Prologue

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Prologue

Don't you all know who writes/draws Flame of Recca? Gee… so there you go, I don't own any of the character in this fic even though it would be nice to own Joker or Mikagami… Anyway, read on and feel free to send me any love mail, hate mail, etc. [Email me][1] !

Love Love Aishiteru,

Pink Yuki

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For the last two weeks of summer, Fuuko has changed. No more "Recca, let's go to the ice cream shop!" or "Domon! Get your hands off me!" She has become distant to the Hokage team, maybe except for Yanagi, who has become her best friend since the Ura Buto Satsujin.

"Mou, Fuuko-san. You don't even return my phone calls these days! What has happened to you?" Yanagi sat on Fuuko's bed. She was spending the night with Fuuko, who reluctantly said yes after Yanagi's puppy eyes attack.

"Gomen." Fuuko smiled back while brushing her hair. "I am just a little busy these days." She looked at Yanagi's suspicious glance, suddenly feeling guilty not to telling the healer everything. "Well… you see, I will be going abroad for a semester, so I have got to pack and stuff…"

"You what?" Yanagi gave a small squeal. "Semester abroad? Why? When? Where?"

"America, Boston to be precise." Fuuko weakly smiled at her friend, who was currently fuming. "Ano… Yanagi-chan, I don't mean to cover it up… it's just that everything happened so fast so I wasn't able to tell everyone." She bit her lip a little. "I only got the letter of acceptance a week ago." 

"When are you leaving?"

Silence. Fuuko diverted her gaze before muttering towards the floor. "Thursday morning."

"Thursday? That's the day after tomorrow!" Yanagi screamed out loud. *Never have anyone heard Yanagi raised her voice before, heck, aren't I the lucky one?* Fuuko smiled at her thought.

"You have to meet up with everyone tomorrow." Yanagi said in a threatening tone.

*Another thing that Yanagi never does…* Fuuko thought. "I can't, I have to go get my transcript from the school and pick up my visa from the embassy and stuff." Fuuko said apologetically. "Gomen."

"Did you at least tell Raiha?" Yanagi calmed down a little, and asked in a concerning voice. Raiha and Fuuko became a pair during the Tendou Jigoku battle, breaking Domon's heart (but didn't dampen his advances on Fuuko to the least bit, as he said he would take Fuuko back from the evil hands of the Pokemon look alike ninja). However, everyone could see that they are made for each other; Fuuko and Raiha had become an inseparable pair within everyone's mind. And the Hokage/Uruha romance even made the two teams friends.

Fuuko was silent for a moment before she could mutter an answer. "There is no need to tell him." Yanagi was about the yelled when the wind wielder continued, "We broke up." 

Yanagi was speechless. The perfect pair broke up? Was she joking? "Fuuko?" Yanagi whispered when suddenly she saw a glint of tears at her dear friend's eyes.

"He said it was a mistake, that it was only the Fuujin and Raijin that brought us together in the first place. I wouldn't say the madougus have nothing to do with it, I mean, I would have never met him if I don't come across the Fuujin…but I love him!" Tears were falling from Fuuko's eyes. "I have to get away. A new place. A place where I could think clearly and not letting the past haunts me. Do you understand? Yanagi? I am so confused right now I can't look at you guys in the eyes!" Fuuko looked up and Yanagi could do nothing but to give her friend a firm embrace in attempt to calm her down.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Taking it out would make things easier you know."

"Well, you are definitely going to tell Recca, who would in turn tells Domon, and together they are probably going to burn down the Uruha mansion and kill Raiha." Fuuko managed a small smile, "You can imagine that happening, can't you?"

Indeed she could, knowing her ninja and the hot-blooded Fuuko admirer far too well herself. "I will keep this a secret until you left." Yanagi finally reached her conclusion.

"No, do me a favor and keep it secret until I come back." Fuuko looked into Yanagi's eyes. "I will be back by Christmas." She gave a reassuring smile to the healer, who just nodded.

With that, Fuuko was gone for three months, leaving behind a group of very surprised Hokage ninjas and Uruha assassins. Well, Mikagami wasn't really reacting, as he was too busy preparing his University entrance exams, nor was Yanagi as she was the secret bearer.

   [1]: mailto:pink_yuki@hotmail.com



	2. Reunion

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 1 - Reunion

The standardized disclaimer: No, I don't own Fuuko or Mikagami or Kaoru, all characters are from Flame of Recca by Noboyuki Anzai. 

Do have fun reading the story though. I don't have much experience in writing fanfics so help me out here k? Drop me a line of comments/suggestions/declaration of hate [here][1]. =) 

Love Love Aishiteru, 

Pink Yuki 

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The plane slowed down and the air stewardess' voice was mumbling about buckling seatbelts and putting seats in upright positions. The purple-haired girl looked out of the window, admiring the snow-covered city. *I am back.* She thought as the plane reached land and stopped. 

Fuuko walked into the arrival hall and immediately spotted her father and Ganko. "Odousan! Ganko!" She waved and ran towards them. 

"Okairi, Fuuko-san." Her father gave her a warm smile. "That's all the luggage you have?" Pointing at a small canvas bag. 

"Yes." As Fuuko hugged Ganko and held the girl's hand while the three of them walked out the airport. 

-------------------------- 

She walked along the streets she knew so well and closed her eyes to breathe in her hometown's air. *It's good to be back. I even missed the smell of the air here!* 

"Fuuko?" A surprised voice rose behind her and she recognized the voice at once. "Domon!" She turned and saw a huge smile on Domon's face. 

"Hey girl! Finally got your ass back here? How come you didn't call any of us? We could have gone to pick you up!" He gave Fuuko a bear hug that nearly suffocated her, but she was pleased to hear the sincerity in his voice. 

"Oh, I forgot to introduce… err, actually you know each other right? Fuuko, this is my girlfriend Aki." Domon blushed as the blue-haired girl smiled next to him. 

Fuuko's heart skipped a beat. *Did I hear it right? Aki is Domon's girlfriend?* She looked at the couple smiling lovingly into each others eyes. "I am so glad for you!" The reality settled in and Fuuko screamed with enthusiasm, "Aki-san, he is a great guy, one of my best friend of all time. Treat him well, ne?" She smiled as Aki winked and nodded. 

" Why don't we all gathered at the Uruha mansion tonight? A party welcoming Fuuko-san's return." 

"Wonderful idea! Koishii, you are so clever!" Domon jumped at the suggestion and grinned. 

"Ano… would that be all right though? It's already four…" Fuuko worriedly added. 

"Oh don't worry! We have parties nearly every night in the Uruha mansion ever since Recca-san moved in." Aki gave an assuring smile and called the Uruha mansion on her cell phone, "Neon neechan? Aki desu. We just bumped into Fuuko-san…" 

"Recca moved into the Uruha mansion?" Fuuko turned to Domon with a puzzled look while Aki was talking on the phone. 

"Ah… Shigeo-san finally did it. His cigarette fell and the factory just exploded because of all the fireworks and stuff inside. The explosion damaged their house also, so now Recca is living with Kurei, while Shigeo-san is still being hospitalized."Domon smirked. "Recca forbids Yanagi to heal him, he said this should taught his old man a lesson." 

"OK! Neon neechan said she would prepare everything." Aki got off the phone and wrapped her arm around Fuuko's shoulders. "Now our guest of honor, Fuuko-san, should come with me to get the perfect dress for tonight!" Fuuko was really glad that Aki was treating her with such affection. "Do-chan, why don't you go and inform the others?" 

"A-chan, you just want to shop yourself, don't you?" Domon looked at his beloved and laughed, "Don't corrupt Fuuko too much okay?" With that he lightly kissed Aki's cheeks and walked away. 

---------------------------------- 

"What do you think of this one?" Aki held up the fifteenth dress she has picked for Fuuko, which the latter sheepishly took and returned to the dressing room. 

Fuuko walked out and looked into the mirror. *Now this is perfect.* She thought. She is not a big fan of shopping at all, especially not dresses, but the dress she had on right now is one that she knew she would regret if she didn't pay for it right now. It fitted like a glove and showed off Fuuko's luscious curves. Being slightly short and low-cut, the dress enhances Fuuko's long legs and perfect neckline. 

"This is perfect!" whispered Aki, who was obviously proud at her choice. "You look so beautiful in it! Silver and blue fit you really well. They enhance the color of your hair." 

"Thank you." Fuuko blushed slightly. Even though she knew that she is not ugly, thanks to the boys in Boston who constantly wanted to take her out, she had never had a girl telling her she looked good before. 

Aki told her to put her T-shirt and jeans in a paper bag and just walked out with the dress she had on right now, seeing that they didn't have much time left. "Kurei-sama said he would buy you your outfit today." Aki took out a platinum card despite Fuuko's protest. "As your welcome back present." Aki winked and dragged Fuuko to buy shoes that match her new outfit. Fuuko felt like she had found a long lost sister, and was beginning to enjoy her new shopaholic companion. 

Aki and Fuuko arrived the Uruha mansion and Aki immediately took her guest to her room. Neon and Miki were there and they both welcomed Fuuko with pecks on the cheeks. 

"Now it's time for makeup!" The Uruha Oto trio giggled in unison. 

"Ano… it's okay…. I am not used to all doll up and stuff…" Fuuko turned to the trio who just gently pushed her to the chair and started fiddling with their makeup brushes. 

"You want to just stun all of them tonight!" Aki was putting foundation on Fuuko's face. 

"Yeah, you disappeared for three months! You should make a dazzling appearance!" Neon quickly added while putting a silver blue eye shadow on Fuuko. 

"Yup! Especially when someone might just give you a love confession tonight!" Miki giggled and saw Fuuko's bewildered expression. "Err… just stating the possibilities…" Miki murmured as she brushed Fuuko's hair, avoiding Neon and Aki's death glares. 

"Well, there is someone who seems rather devastated when you left without a word." Neon stared at the bewildered wind wielder. "But we can't tell you who it is, since we haven't confirmed our suspicion." 

"Oh…" Fuuko muttered. She looked into the mirror and, seriously, thought that makeup IS an amazing thing. She has never looked so good before! 

"Fuuko-san!" Someone rushed in. "You are back! You are back!" The figure was grinning with tears in her eyes. "And you look wonderful." 

"Yanagi-chan" Fuuko smiled and approached her friend. They hugged and Fuuko happily said, "Tadaima!" The two best friends giggled. 

"Is Fuuko in Aki's room?" Recca's voice was ringing in the corridor. "No boys allowed here! Not even you, Recca-san." Aki stuck her head out the corridor. "We will bring her out when everyone is here, okay?" 

"What's the big deal?" Recca protested while Aki whispered into his ears. He nodded and beamed, "Okay then, I will come and inform you when everyone is here. Now where is niichan…." Recca wandered off. 

"He is actually calling Kurei niichan now?" Fuuko have a quizzical look on her face when Neon and Yanagi smiled at each other. 

"Yes. And Kurei-sama seemed to like that a lot also." Neon smiled. 

"Recca-kun is doing much better in school since Kurei-san tutored him on sciences and math." Yanagi said with a hint of relief in her voice. 

"Neon-han!" There was a knock on the door, and Miki opened a crack. "Yosu, Miki-han, is Neon-han here? I've got the stuff she wants." Fuuko recognized the Kansai accent and Neon whispered something in her ears, "Hey, Hiroji! Wassup?" Fuuko shouted. 

"Do NOT call me Hiroji!!!!" Growled the angry assassin outside, while Neon was rolling on the floor dying of laughter. "Joker! My name is JOKER! Damn you Neon for corrupting Fuuko-han… anyway, just give this to Neon-han will you, Miki-han?" With that Joker walked away mumbling swear words. 

"Still doesn't like his real name I see." Fuuko looked at the Uruha trio, who were still hysterically laughing. Even Yanagi's face was red with laughter. 

"That baka…haha… oh yeah, this is the last piece to complete you look." Neon pulled something out of the box Joker delivered. "A welcome back gift from the three of us, Fuuko-san." She put a purplish-blue choker around Fuuko's neck; a small heart-shaped amethyst was dangling in the middle. 

"That's so pretty!" Yanagi exclaimed. Fuuko thanked the trio and gazed at the gift from the mirror. 

"Well, we bought it a long time ago when we went to Paris for a …err…mission." Miki said. "We thought it would fit you very well in your wedding." 

"My WHAT?" Fuuko jumped at Miki's words, "WEDDING? To who?" 

WHAM! Both Neon and Aki hit Miki hard on the head. "Just forget what she said." Neon softly said while shot dagger through her eyes at Miki. 

*Raiha.* Fuuko bit her lip. "Raiha…we did seem inseparable back then, don't we?" Fuuko smiled and saw the rest loosen up a bit. 

"Gomen…" Miki murmured in her half-conscious state. 

Fuuko raised a finger to touch the amethyst and sighed. It was tough, but she understood now that it was over. For the time she took in Boston, she finally realized that she loved Raiha, but despite the physical attraction she loved him more like a friend, or a brother. 

"Are you okay?" Yanagi said in a worried tone. Fuuko merely nodded. 

"Hey ladies! Are you ready? Everyone is here!" Recca shouted outside the room. 

"Now now, Fuuko-san! You are going to make them all drool out there!" Aki giggled. "Except for Rasshen, who can't see, and all the other girls there." Miki added. 

Recca was not sure if it was really Fuuko in front of him. He knew that she is a girl and he knew that she has a great figure, but damn! 

"If it's not because of hime here, I would probably be nose bleeding like mad." Recca winked at his former teammate and laughed. Fuuko smiled while Yanagi blushed at Recca's comment. 

"Now do I have the pleasure to escort my five beautiful ladies to the living room?" Kurei appeared from nowhere and asked. Fuuko was surprised that Kurei would actually lose his red cloak and mask, but the man in front of her was certainly in a suit. The girls giggled and nodded while Recca complaining about Kurei turning into a slimy ladies man. 

The brothers walked into the room and announced that their guest of honor is here. "Fuuko neechan!" Koganei jumped onto Fuuko when she stepped into the room. "Kaoru, never changed ne?" Fuuko smiled at the familiar welcome and the boy gave her his famous fanged grin. 

"Hey Fuuko neechan, why don't you tell us what you did in the past three months?" Koganei finally released Fuuko and asked the question everyone in the room was dying to know. 

"Well, I took the English improvement course and some geography classes in Boston University. And I had an internship at the weather channel as a researcher." Fuuko slowly stated her achievements and looked around the room. Everyone was listening intently. She hesitated before she continued, "And…err… I have decided to take the full scholarship offered by BU to study meteorology there after high school." 

Silence. 

"You are leaving us again after high school?" Yanagi voice trembled. "You are not staying?" 

"I have decided." Fuuko turned and gazed softly in her best friend's direction. "It's an opportunity of a lifetime. The weather channel seemed to like me too. They offered me a rather promising position there." 

"Well, I guess we should open the champagne and congratulate our lovely Fuuko-han!" Joker broke the silence and proceeded to get a bottle of Dom Perignon. Everyone started chattering again. 

Fuuko smiled at Yanagi, who seemed to be having a mental conflict about being happy for her or being upset at her. Finally, Yanagi looked up and smiled, "Congratulations!" 

Fuuko was relieved by Yanagi's reaction. The two friends hugged, and Yanagi went off to get both of them something to drink. Saicho came over to introduce Fuuko to Misora, who seemed to be a girl as sweet as Saicho. Fujimaru came to compliment Fuuko's breast, and got a big whack by both Saicho and Kuukai before Fuuko could react. 

Fuuko let herself slipped into a corner and observed the crowd with interest. She looked over to the bar area and saw Joker and Koganei struggling with the bottle of champagne. * Don't those two look like brothers? The same fanged grin and cockiness.* She giggled at the thought while watching Joker trying to unscrew the bottle by pointing his Taishaku Kaitan at the cork, attempting to make the cork flied away, and failed miserably. Kurei rushed to the scene growling, "Don't you two know that you can just open champagne with your hands?" Fuuko could not suppress a laughter escaping from her mouth. 

She turned and suddenly caught Mikagami staring at her. There was a notion of hurt and anger in his eyes despite his emotionless face. He was standing apart from everyone and once he held Fuuko's eyes, he started to make his way towards the wind master. 

"Monkey." Mikagami hissed in a low voice, which got Fuuko upset in an instance. *And Neon was saying that men are going to drool over my appearance…* She thought disappointedly. * Well, at least I am more mature now. Three months ago I would be beating his ass up by now." Her thought relieved her and so she squeezed a smile, "Konbanwa, Mi-chan." 

Mikagami stared at Fuuko with slight surprised that she was not screaming at him, yet the hurt and anger was still there in his eyes. * And I thought avenging his sister would finally bring some liveliness in him. Well, it's the fridge boy we are talking about here.* Fuuko thought with asmirk on her face. 

"So you are going to leave again? Leaving Yanagi sad behind?" Mikagami simply stated. 

"Mi-chan, I know you want the best for Yanagi, but I have a life also." Fuuko replied. "Besides, she still has Recca and you protecting her." 

"Hmmp." Mikagami stared at her for a moment and walked away. 

"The fridge boy was still cold as ever." Fuuko whispered quietly to no one in particular. "No, he is doing much better lately." Yanagi and Recca suddenly appeared with three glasses of champagne in their hands. Fuuko took one and sipped her drink. 

"You should have come back a week earlier. Mikagami-senpai was so drunk! Tsukishiro-san and him kept talking about the new Clinique shampoo and how it has too much alcohol content that it would destroy their hair!" Yanagi couldn't hold back the laughter as she recalled the scene. 

"Mi-chan? Drunk? That's something I surely want to see." Fuuko was giggling at the thought. 

"You do? We can try on that then." Recca grinned evilly and called out. "Niichan! Niichan!" 

Kurei hurried over. "Thanks bro, you saved me from Neon's hands once again. Why the heck is she always throwing herself at me?" Kurei had a confused look on his face. 

"Maybe it's because of your Armani suits these days. Stop shopping with Mikagami and you might have a chance of stopping girls swamp over you." Recca teased his brother, who abruptly replied, "This is Gucci for god's sake!" 

Fuuko and Yanagi sweatdropped as the brothers continued their conversation on men's clothing. "Back to why I called you over. Hey, you think we can get Mikagami drunk again tonight?" Recca grinned. 

"Hmm… might be a problem. He has developed quite a good tolerance you know." 

"I am sure Joker and you can accomplish the task just fine. You two are the biggest drinkers in the world!" 

"We'll see." Kurei smiled and turned to face Fuuko, "May I have the pleasure to have the first dance?" 

Fuuko laughed at how Kurei has truly turned into a ladies man while letting Kurei took her to the dance floor. Much to her surprise, Kurei was a great dancer. "The only thing I would ever feel grateful to Mori Kouran is that he forced me to go to all these dancing lessons." Kurei winked. 

Fuuko was enjoying herself immensely. Kurei and her were having a great conversation while dancing all around the dance floor. The once evil flame caster turned out to be an intelligent man who treated girls like jewels in his hands. *Neon couldn't possibly be talking about Kurei, could she? After all, she was so in love with him that she would never say that Kurei likes someone else.* Fuuko thought. 

The music slowed down and Joker came to take Fuuko out of Kurei's hands. "Kurei-han, you can't keep the guest of honor all to yourself!" Joker flashed his fanged grin and swiftly took Kurei's position. At the corner of her eyes, Fuuko could spot Yanagi and Recca, Domon and Aki, Saicho and Misora dancing around them. 

"Nah… Fuuko-han, you should be looking at your wonderful dance partner here only." Joker laughed while putting up a hurt face. 

"I wouldn't know if you are looking at me though, would I? Joker-san." Fuuko teased Joker. Even now Joker still kept a cap or sunglasses on all the time, to prevent anyone into looking at his eyes. 

Joker laughed at Fuuko's comment and lowered his sunglasses a little so that Fuuko could spot a gold twinkle appeared in front of her. Unfortunately, it was only for a short second that Fuuko couldn't make out what color his eyes really were. 

*Neon cannot be talking about Joker-san either, can she? I don't know him really except for the fact that he was Raiha's best friend.* Fuuko thought. "Ano… Joker-san?" 

"What's up? Fuuko-han?" 

"Do you know how Raiha is doing right now?" 

Silence. Joker slowed down a little and Fuuko mistakenly stepped on his toes. "Itai!" Joker playfully screamed and lowered his voice slightly, "Fuuko-han, I think you should concentrate on the amazingly cool bishounen in front of you right now." Fuuko just stared at him. 

"Fine, but don't tell the others I told you though." Joker sighed. "Raiha is still in Tokyo, operating the kendo dojo Meguri Kyoza had. Kurei-han bought it you see." 

"I am glad he is doing well." Fuuko smiled and Joker studied her intently. Finally, he too smiled. "I see you got over him quite well." 

"Yes, maybe next time we could all have a gathering together?" Fuuko heartily replied. 

"Can I have the dance, Joker?" A giggly voice raised behind her. Fuuko couldn't figure out who it was but Joker promptly slipped away. 

Fuuko turned around and found a red-faced, smiling Mikagami behind her. Kurei and Recca, not too far away from Mikagami, laughing hysterically and mouthed Fuuko that they have gotten Mikagami rather tipsy, pointing at the five empty red-wine bottles at their feet. 

   [1]: mailto:pink_yuki@hotmail.com



	3. Game

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 2 - Game 

Yes! I finally got to the 2nd chapter now! Well, you all know the disclaimer so I am not going to bother with it now (me lazy =P)

If you have gotten this far then I assume you have read my first two chapters. What do you think? [Email me][1] your thoughts! 

Love Love Aishiteru, 

Pink Yuki 

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Mikagami held her tightly. "I think I am a little tipsy right now, do you mind giving me a little support?" The ensui wielder whispered in her ears.

"Are you okay? Mi-chan?" Fuuko was bewildered that the usual confident, cold Mikagami was talking so softly to her, not to mention holding her. 

"Yeah, just that Kurei and Recca developed a sudden interest in wine tasting and forced me to go along with them. If it's only Recca I could just walked away, but I don't dare turning my back on two flame masters at once." Mikagami said with his hand twirling with Fuuko's hair. 

Fuuko blushed slightly but enjoyed the feeling. "You have nice hair, Fuuko. Don't ever use Clinique's shampoo okay, it would harm your hair." Fuuko let out a slight laughter. That's the Mikagami she knew, always obsessed with his hair. 

"Mi-chan, so how have you been lately?" 

"It's okay. I got offers from quite a few universities, but I haven't decided on where I want to go yet. I wonder which one Mifuyu would choose?" 

"The one you like the best." 

"Then it would be too far away. I won't be able to see all the people here for a while." Mikagami slightly pondered, but the alcohol in his system was still affecting him. "Not that I want to see the sea-monkey or the gorilla anyway, but I like shopping with Kurei and converse with him." He giggled. 

"Ano… Mi-chan? Are you gay?" Fuuko asked innocently. 

"NANI???" Mikagami jumped at Fuuko's question. The alcohol in his blood seemed to evaporate within an instance. "I am 100% male, physically and mentally." 

Fuuko was embarrassed by her misjudgment and further more by the weird stares from everyone around them. *Gee… I didn't know Mi-chan of all people would ever make a scene.* She thought. 

"You want to get a drink? I am kind of thirsty right now." Fuuko quickly diverted the topic and dragged Mikagami to the bar's direction. Mikagami kept saying that he is 100% male along the way. 

Fuuko found the two flame casters behind the bar, with Kaoru, Joker, Neon, Miki and Yanagi sitting around the bar table. "Go Neon-sama, go!" Fuuko heard Miki's cheer and peeped though the crowd. Neon and Kaoru quickly gulped down the flaming liquid. "Neon-neechan, I win!" the little boy grinned and wiped his mouth with his sleeves. Neon grabbed Joker and kissed him square on the mouth. 

"What is that? And Kaoru! You are severely underage!" Fuuko turned to Yanagi, who was cheering for Kaoru while Kaoru just stuck his tongue out. "Oh, Fuuko-san. They were just playing drinking games." The healer smiled sweetly. "You two want to join?" 

"Sure." Mikagami looked a little sober now and proceed to stand behind Kaoru, still holding Fuuko's hand unconsciously. 

"New challengers!" Recca happily screamed. "Let's see… who wants to play with Mikagami? Fuuko can wait for the next round since she doesn't know the rules yet." 

"I will." Kurei smiled and started mixing the drinks. 

Fuuko was totally confused about the game." The game is basically two people drinking against each other, and the one who lost have to do something the winner stated." Miki quickly informed Fuuko. "It was really fun before, when all the Jyushinshuus were here. You have to see Joker-san's face when he had to kiss Mikoto!" Everyone laughed except for the cursing Joker. 

"You have to kiss Yanagi." Mikagami suddenly burst out. 

"Niichan! Don't you dare lose! If you kiss my hime I am going to burn you with all hachiryu!" Recca shouted immediately. Mikagami just smirked alongside. 

"Don't worry, since when did I ever lose to Mikagami?" Kurei eyed his brother with a hint of laughter in his voice. "Just do your job, Recca." 

"What drink is that?" Fuuko asked Yanagi, who was blushing furiously at how Recca was protecting her. "Oh, it's flaming Lamborghini." 

Recca skillfully poured the liquor down and summon Saiha (wonder what the hachiryu thought of this?) to light it before it could reach the glass. Mikagami and Kurei were drinking as fast as they could with the crowd cheering around them. Recca being the loudest. 

"I win." Kurei smiled at the growling Mikagami. "See, I never lose to Mikagami!" Kurei raised a V-sign to Recca, who nodded happily. "What are you going to make him do now, niichan?" 

Unaware of the crowd forming around them, people were shouting out their suggestions. 

"Call Duo Maxwell and tell him he would take Heero away from him!" 

"Call Hiei and tell him he loves him more than Kurama ever does!" 

"Kiss Fujimaru!" 

"Let Domon braids his hair!" 

"Just make him bake cookies since we don't have much snacks left." Fuuko raised her voice to the suggestions. She didn't think that ensui would do any good in front of a Gundam, nor did she think Mikagami would appreciate having weird plants growing out of his body. 

"Cookies! That's a good idea." Kaoru licked his lips. "Mikagami niichan bakes the best cookies in the world!" 

"Cookies it is then. Off you go, Mikagami!" Kurei smiled. "Fuuko, why don't you go and keep an eye on him also? I don't want my kitchen to burn because of a drunk man." 

"Okay." Fuuko stood and followed the giggling water wielder out of the room. 

----------------------- 

"Mi-chan, at least this is better than calling up the Gundam pilots, right?" Fuuko sat herself on the kitchen table. "Come on, you can't be angry at me for this? I have never tasted your cooking before also since Kaoru always eats all of them before I could reach one." 

"Hmmp." The water wielder looked at her and put the dough into the oven. "Time it, 30 minutes." 

"Fine, be that way." Fuuko set the time on her Baby-G, looked up and noticed Mikagami's face was no more than a few inches from her, with arms enclosing her around the kitchen table.

"You still have that?" Mikagami looked at her watch. 

"Yeah, you guys got me this for my birthday, remember? My 17th birthday present." Fuuko felt weird as she could clearly mark Mikagami's breathe on her face. 

"Yes, I remember." Mikagami suddenly put his head on Fuuko's shoulder. "I picked it." 

"Ano… Mi-chan?" Fuuko was bewildered by Mikagami's actions. *This is my teammate, for goodness' sake. And he only wants some support since he is still drunk. Stop blushing, Fuuko!* She was trying hard to suppress the redness rising from her cheeks. 

"We missed you." Mikagami murmured on Fuuko's neck, which gave her a burning sensation. *Come on now, Fuuko. He is DRUNK!* Fuuko stiffened and slowly raised a hand soothing Mikagami's back. "I am back." She softly said. 

"I missed you." Mikagami put his arms around Fuuko's waist, still murmuring on her neck. *Now this must be an illusion, he was just saying we missed you, where the heck did I hear I missed you from?* Fuuko couldn't stop herself from blushing and remained silent. 

'beep beep beep' Fuuko straightened up and stopped her watch. *Gee, I was holding Mi-chan for 30 minutes? He must be real drunk not to protest.* "Hey Mi-chan? Let's check on the cookies." Now that her redness subsided, she pushed Mikagami up and proceeded to the oven. "They look wonderful." 

Mikagami silently put the cookies on a plate and gave one to Fuuko. "Try it." 

Fuuko savored the white chocolate chip cookie and looked up, "The best I have ever tasted." She smiled. 

Mikagami smiled and motioned Fuuko to go back to the party. 

---------------------- 

When Fuuko and Mikagami arrived the living room, nearly half the people were on the floor. The kuu team, except for Saicho and Misora who were drunk beyond belief on the recliner, were a dead pile on the floor. Domon and Aki have blacked out on the couch. Joker was trying his luck on the half-drunken Neon, and got a whack on his head as Neon told him to wait for another century. 

"You are back!" Kaoru seemed unaffected and bounced towards them, "Cookies!" the anki wielder grabbed three and forced them down his throat. 

"Hey you two, come and play again! The kuu team was defeated in a second. Not much fun really." Recca shouted at them and ran over for the cookies. 

"Fuuko's turn." Yanagi smiled. From the redness on her face, Fuuko could tell that the healer was rather tipsy already. "I will drink with you." 

"Fine." Fuuko slipped into the seat beside her best friend. "How many did you drink before I was back?" 

"Just six. I beat Misora six times in a row." 

"SIX? Yanagi, I didn't know you handle liquor that well…" Fuuko was dumbstruck. 

"Okay ladies, on your set now." Kurei smiled at the two of them and put the glasses down. "Kurenai!" A small action figure sized fire came from Kurei's finger and lit the liquid as it flowed down. 

Fuuko was trying her best to gulp down the liquor, but it was stronger than she anticipated. A moment later, she heard the healer giggled an "I win." 

Fuuko gulped down the last mouthful and looked at her friend, "So what do you want me to do now? Call up Quatre Winner and confess how cute I think he is?" Fuuko laughed. 

Yanagi thought a second before a wicked grin came onto her face. "Kiss Mikagami-senpai for 30 seconds." 

"Nani? Yanagi, stop joking." 

"Rules are rules, my friend." Yanagi smiled at her embarrassed friend. 

"Just do it. It's only thirty seconds." Joker sat down next to Fuuko, "I had to kiss Mikoto for a whole minute!" 

"Besides, Mikagami wasn't protesting. He never remembers what he did when he was drunk anyway. We have had that experience before. We made him dress up in Neon's clothes and took a picture of him, he didn't remember it at all until we showed him the picture!" Kurei and Recca laughed as they recalled the incident. 

Fuuko turned around and put her hands on Mikagami's face, slowly she moved her face forward. *Well, at least he won't remember at all.* She thought as she closed her eyes. 

Suddenly Mikagami reached down and covered Fuuko's lips with his. Fuuko's eyes opened abruptly. Mikagami's left hands had encircled her slim waist, while his right hand rested behind her neck for support. Mikagami kissed her passionately and nibbled on her lower lips every now and then. Fuuko felt the world spin around her, she closed her eyes and started to kiss back. She stopped when Kurei announced that thirty seconds were over. 

Fuuko looked up at Mikagami, whose eyes were so passionate that it burnt holes in her. She blushed and pulled away from his grip, sitting down on the bar stool once again drinking the whatever-it-is in front of her. 

"Now that's what I call passionate." Yanagi eyed Recca and grinned. "Recca, maybe you should start taking lessons from Mikagami-senpai?" Everyone laughed and Recca whined. 

"Oh damn!" Koganei suddenly cried out. "It's 4 o'clock already. Kurei niichan, aren't we going to help Kagero-san in her store tomorrow? We will have less than 5 hours of sleep even if we drop dead now!" 

Kurei sweatdropped. "We do, don't we?" He looked at Kaoru and the latter nodded. "Damn! Party's over! I have got to sleep now!" Both Kurei and Koganei dashed for the door, when Kurei all of a sudden stopped and turned to the crowd. "Neon and Joker, just settled everyone who wanted to stay into the guest rooms, okay?" With that he ran. 

"I never knew niichan is a sprinter." Recca was still looking at the door, "He could have won the Olympics with that speed! Oh well, whatever. Since the party is over, I am going to go sleep too." He yawned. 

"Hime, you can have the room next to mine… Joker, would you drag the Kuu's to the spare rooms on the left wing? Thanks. Neon and Miki, can you settle Saicho, Misora, Domon, and Aki? Thanks." Recca took his leadership role and started settling everyone in. "Mikagami and Fuuko, are you two staying?" He turned to the very bewildered Fuuko and the absolutely spaced out Mikagami. 

"Yeah, I guess so. I can't drive at this state anyway." Mikagami seemed to sober up a little. "I'll take the room next to Kurei's, is that okay?" 

"Well, Kaoru would be staying there tonight, since they have to go help Kachan early tomorrow." Recca thought for a second. "I guess you have to take Kaoru's room. And Fuuko?" 

"I guess I would stay also, it's not very nice to wake dousan and Ganko at this time of the night." Fuuko looked over to Mikagami. *Stop thinking about him Fuuko, it was just a kiss, a kiss he won't even remember!* Fuuko looked back at Recca. 

"Well, then you have to take Ganko's old bedroom. It's next to Koganei's, I guess Mikagami can take you there." Recca shrugged and yawned. "Gee I am suddenly tired now, see you guys in the morning k?" Recca turned and walked out. 

"Well, Kaoru's room is on the third floor." Mikagami picked up a beer from the fridge before he grabbed Fuuko's wrist and walked out of the living room door. 

"Mi-chan, I can walk on my own you know." Fuuko slightly panicked and tried to loosen Mikagami's grip. 

"I know you can, but I don't know if I can." Mikagami turned his head slightly and took another mouthful of beer. 

"If you stop drinking then there is a chance you can get your ass up the stairs by yourself." Fuuko murmured at the depth of her throat. 

"I have to drink." Mikagami led the two of them through the hallway on the third floor. 

"Why?" Fuuko was plain confused and was starting to feel tired, they have reached the door of Ganko's room when she turned and asked. 

"Because…" Mikagami held his body up by putting one arm on the door, his other arm touches Fuuko's face slightly. "Because I have been wanting to tell you how much I miss you." He lowered his lips to an astonished Fuuko's forehead. 

"Mi-chan?" *this has to be hallucination. Freezer boy? Miss me?* Fuuko's mind was all jumbled up, and before she could say anything, Mikagami kissed her softly on the lips. 

Fuuko felt electricity going down her spine. Her legs are getting wobbly, and her mind seemed to have abandoned her. It's only when Mikagami pulled away and said goodnight that she straightened up and went into her room without a second glance at the water wielder. 

Fuuko lied on the bed. *Neon couldn't be talking about him, could she? They don't even know each other that well. Plus…* Fuuko was twisting and turning on the bed. "He likes girls that are gentle and sweet, like Yanagi." She whispered to herself before she closed her eyes for a dreamless sleep. 

   [1]: mailto:pink_yuki@hotmail.com



	4. Rumors

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 3 - Rumors

Standard disclaimer applied. Seems like I am going to write a rather long fic this time as there are so many little things I want to put in! Thanks for the support minna-san! [Email me][1] your thoughts, ok? 

Love Love Aishiteru,

Pink Yuki 

------------------------------ 

Fuuko woke up to the knock on the door. She looked at the sunlit bedroom and called out, "Come in!" 

Yanagi walked in with a bright smile on her face. "Ohayo, Fuuko-san. Did I wake you?" She sat down on the edge of the bed, toying with one of the stuff toys Ganko left behind. 

"Nah... It's about time I should wake up anyway." Fuuko stretched and stood up. It said 12.00 on the clock on the bedside table. 

"I have made lunch for us, so go get change and come down alright?" Yanagi looked at her best friend. "Oh, would you mind getting Mikagami senpai also? I have woke him up before coming in for you, but you know how he needs to get his hair perfect each morning... Just drag him down with you ok? I don't want to wait an hour before we can start eating." Yanagi smiled and walked out. 

Fuuko quickly brushed her hair and washed her face. She is still wearing the dress but she decided to change back into the jeans and T-shirt she had on yesterday. After all, she is Fuuko the tomboy, dresses do not fit her in bright daylight. 

She walked out of her room and knocked on the Koganei's door. "Mi-chan! Are you ready? Yanagi wants us to get down NOW!" She opened the door and found Mikagami brushing his hair. *God he looks good in the morning. Wait, Fuuko, what ARE you thinking?* "Mi-chan!" She called. 

"Just wait will you?" Mikagami gave her one of his icy glares and started tying his hair in a low ponytail. 

"Yanagi is waiting." Fuuko suddenly remembered how passionate Mikagami's kiss was and unconsciously brought a finger to her lips. 

Mikagami looked at her with the corner of his eyes. "Monkey got a kiss last night from someone?" Fuuko looked up to his comment and a slight blush came onto her cheeks. "Whoever that is, he must be blind. Was it Rasshen?" Mikagami snickered and stood up. 

*Obviously he forgot everything last night.* Fuuko bit her lips and turned. "Yes I got a kiss but it's not from Rasshen. Thank you so VERY much for your nice comment first thing in the morning." Fuuko said with slight sarcasm in her voice. "Just hurry up will you? Yanagi won't be pleased." She walked out of his room and proceeded to the dining room. 

"Hmmp." Mikagami muttered. *So she got a kiss from someone?* He noticed a frown appearing on his face. *Why would I care anyway? That monkey!* He looked into the mirror and thought his hair looked good enough for the day, and walked out of his room. 

-------------------------------------------- 

"Hime! This is great!" Recca was putting everything he had in his plate down his throat in a second. "I love it!" He shouted with his mouth full and bits of food could be spotted falling from his mouth. 

"Recca, get some table manners and don't talk while your mouth is full!" Domon commented in a tone of disgust. After months of tutoring by Aki, Domon could now pass as the perfect gentleman in every elegant restaurant with ease. Heck! He can even order from a French menu these days! 

Fuuko walked in and sat down next to Recca. "You know, Domon has a point there." She smirked while carefully avoided all the nasty bits of food coming her way when Recca muttered more swear words. 

"Is Mikagami senpai coming down?" Yanagi looked over to Fuuko, and handed her a plateful of curry. 

"I guess? He is still fiddling with his hair when I knocked." Fuuko quickly ate the food in front of her. *It's good as always. Yanagi has the talent to make simple food taste like it came from a five star restaurant.* She thought. 

"What are you planning to do today?" Yanagi poured a large glass of water for Recca, who was currently choking as he ate too fast. "I have to work this afternoon, at Kagero-san's store. I will be finished by 6 though, you think we can get together sometime today?" 

"I promised Ganko I would go to the mall with her this afternoon, but that won't take all day. How about I come to pick you up at work? We can have dinner together." Fuuko finished the last spoonful on her plate. "Go-chiso-samadeshita! " 

"Let's do that! You have no idea how much I have to tell you!" Yanagi enthusiastically smiled. "Ah, Mikagami senpai." She looked over to the dinning room entrance. 

"Yanagi, I guess I would go home now." Fuuko wiped her mouth one last time. "I will see you later, ne?" She stood. 

"OK." Yanagi smiled while preparing Mikagami's plate. 

"Hey, can you call a cab for me? I don't really know how to get back from here..." Fuuko looked over to Recca. 

"I'll take you home, Fuuko-han." Joker stood from his seat. "I need to go to the mall too, so why don't we go together?" 

"Sure. I will meet you at the door in 5 minutes, ok?" Fuuko smiled and left the room to collect her stuff. 

Mikagami was munching his food. *She could have asked me to give her a ride, since we only live two blocks from each other... Why should I care? That monkey.* without noticing, he was eating way too fast and choked. Recca laughed hysterically (until Mikagami shot him the iciest stare in the world) while Yanagi quickly poured the fridge boy a glass of water. 

-------------------------------------------------- 

"Thanks for the ride, Joker-san." Fuuko settled herself in the red Mercedes SLK. 

"Ah... it's my pleasure to have a lovely lady next to me." Joker skillfully made the twists and turns down the hill. "So you enjoyed the party last night?" 

"Yeah, seeing Mi-chan drunk is one of the funniest thing in the world." Fuuko recalled the giggling Mikagami and laughed. 

"Mikagami isn't a light drinker… but seems like he has been drinking all night before Kurei-han and Recca-han forced five bottles of red wine down his throat." Joker smiled. "He seemed to want to be drunk." He glanced over at Fuuko and saw her concentrating on the scenery outside. "You know, sometimes you need alcohol to boost up confidence." 

"When have you EVER seen Mi-chan lost confidence?" Fuuko diverted her attention back to Joker, "The day Mi-chan lost confidence Tokyo Tower is probably going to collapse!" She laughed at the thought. 

"Well, men need confidence boosts time to time." Joker turned the corner. "Especially when you have something you really want to say and can't say it in your usual self. You know how the saying goes, drunk men always tell the truth." He stopped the car in front of Fuuko's house. 

Fuuko gathered her stuff and opened the door, "Well, if that's the case you don't need to think about getting any from Neon ever again. Just park the car and wait for me in the living room will you?" Fuuko winked at the surprised assassin and ran into the house. 

*I hope he is not implying anything about Mi-chan and I… * Fuuko walked into the house and called, "Ganko! Ganko! Are you ready? Joker is downstairs waiting!" She ran into her room, took a quick shower, and changed into her leather pants and fuzzy turtleneck. 

"Sorry for the wait." Fuuko ran downstairs to the living room and saw Joker and Ganko playing…. BARBIES! 

"Oh, Barbie-chan… we have to go now." Ganko tried to fake a deep voice (and failed miserably) and put her Ken-doll into the Barbie house. 

"Ken-kun, wait for me!" Joker made his voice 8 degrees higher and put the Barbie back to the dollhouse, "Mou… it is still bright outside and we are going into the bedroom already? You're so impatient!" 

Sweatdropped from both Ganko and Fuuko. 

"Ano… shall we go then?" Joker looked at the two bewildered girls and started to get a little embarrassed. 

"Oh yeah, let's go." Fuuko recovered from the shock and walked out of the door. 

--------------------------------------- 

They had a pleasant time in the mall. Fuuko bought the biggest teddy bear they could find from the toy store for Ganko. "This is your Christmas present you know." Fuuko smiled lovingly at the girl, who was so happy that Joker thought Ganko's head was going to fall off because of the nodding too much. 

"Fuuko neechan, what do you want for Christmas?" Ganko looked innocently at Fuuko, who just smiled back. "If you can teach this teddy here not to make rude comments like Kondo did then it's good enough a present already!" 

"Are you sure? That's not hard at all; I just need to readjust the Kata Kugutsu before I put it on teddy-chan here." 

"That's good enough." Fuuko reassured the little girl while waiting for Joker to tried on his seventeenth outfit in Armani. 

An hour went by. Joker was in Versace's changing room. 

Two hours went by. Joker was in D&G's changing room. 

Three hours went by…. 

"Domo arigatou gozaimasu! Joker-dono!"Four salesgirls stood in a straight line in front of the Moschino store, bowing slightly as a beaming Joker, amazed Fuuko, and a totally bored Ganko walked out of the store. 

"Joker-san, can you really wear all those clothes?" Fuuko looked at Joker, who was struggling with eight huge shopping bags. "Here, I will carry some for you." 

"Oh thanks!" Joker handed Fuuko three bags, "Of course I wear all of them. At least I have fewer garments than Neon-han or Tsukishiro. An amazingly cool bishounen like me have to keep up with the latest fashion trends!" Joker said with pride. 

"It must be an Uruha thing…" Fuuko whispered to Ganko, who just nodded in agreement. "Maybe except Raiha…" 

"Fuuko-han, now you are wrong. Do you know all Raiha's clothes are custom made? He is the trendiest ninja I have ever seen!" Joker heard the whispering and said. 

"Hey, can you take Ganko home for me? I have somewhere I want to go." Fuuko looked at her watch, it was barely four. "Plus, I don't think we can still fit three people in the car with all these clothes and Ganko's new toy." 

"Well sure. You sure you don't need a ride there?" Joker took the shopping bags back in his hands. 

"I'll be fine." Fuuko smiled and walked away. 

------------------------------------------------ 

"Ichi, ni, san, yon! Ichi, ni, san, yon!" 

Bokkens were flying in the air. The couch was standing in the front, shouting instructions. 

"Right. That's it for today. Dismissed!" The couch shouted once more and the group of students shouted a loud "Arigato gozaimasu! Sensei!" in unison before running away. 

The couch lowered his men and let his purple hair down. He looked up and saw a figure in the doorway. "Fuuko-san!" He exclaimed. 

"Raiha, long time no see! Hmm…. I should call you Raiha sensei now huh?" Fuuko walked over to her ex-boyfriend and gave him a big hug. 

"Fuuko-san." Raiha petted her head, "I hate to tell you this, but I am all sweaty right now so your clothes are going to get all ruined if you hug me any longer…" Fuuko jumped back and looked at her clothes. 

"Ever so considerate, Raiha?" Making sure her clothes were free from any sweat stains, Fuuko smiled at Raiha. 

"So how come you know I am here? I doubt Recca-san or Domon-san would tell you that." Raiha packed up his kendogus and asked. 

"Joker told me." Fuuko settled herself on the wooden floor. "So how have you been?" 

"The dojo is operating well and that keeps me rather busy." 

"Girlfriend?" 

Raiha turned and saw Fuuko grinning like mad. "Ano… Fuuko-san…such personal question…" Raiha blushed. 

"So you have a new girlfriend?" Fuuko asked with more enthusiasm. 

"No. " Raiha finally replied, still blushing furiously at Fuuko's forwardness. 

"Then… do you have a boyfriend?" 

"NANI?" Raiha jumped at the question. Remembering all the advances he had came across before, Raiha's face turned from bright red to pale white. "Fuuko-san, you mustn't think of me that way! You mustn't!" 

"Just asking." Fuuko shrugged. "My best friend in Boston is gay, and he is the nicest person on earth!" 

"Fuuko-san, you KNOW I can't take such questions." Raiha gave a sigh of relief. "So you have a boyfriend now? Or a girlfriend?" 

"Neither." Fuuko smiled. 

"It's not because of me…" Before Raiha could finish the sentence, Fuuko had burst out laughing. "Raiha, oh Raiha…. Haha… don't flatter yourself too much! Of course it's not because of you…Haha…" 

"Oh well…" Raiha had once again turned crimson, "I will just go behind the curtains to get changed. Keep on talking, I can hear you from there." 

"Okay… Raiha, I just come here to tell you that I understand what you told me now. I didn't love you as a boyfriend but a friend, or brother even, before, and I guess you felt the same way too. So… " Fuuko turned as she heard Raiha stepping out, "Are we still friends?" 

"Of course we are, Fuuko-san." Raiha smiled warmly at the wind master. 

"Cool. After all Raijin and Fuujin are supposed to fight each other, not to be with each other. Ne?" Fuuko winked. 

"Then you want to fight now?" Raiha teased and Fuuko smiled. "Maybe another day. You want to join Yanagi and me to dinner?" 

"Sure." 

The two of them walked down the street, totally unaware of the black Porsche Carrera behind them. Inside the car was none the other but Recca and Kurei. 

--------------------------------------------------- 

"Yanagi-chan! Kagero-san!" Fuuko and Raiha walked into the Japanese food store 'Kage Houshi'. 

"Ah… Fuuko-san, Raiha-kun." Kagero appeared from the kitchen in a kimono. "How nice to see you two. Yanagi-chan will be out in a minute." She poured the visitors two cups of tea. 

"Domo." Fuuko sipped the tea and felt herself warming up from the cold. "It was so cold outside this really helps!" She looked up and saw Kagero smiling at her. 

"Fuuko you never watched the weather channel. They said the cold breeze is coming in today! So much for a future meteorologist…" Raiha said in a concerning tone. "Take my jacket for now, and be sure you remember to wear a jacket tomorrow!" 

"Hai hai! Raiha-sensei!" Fuuko looked over at Raiha and gave him a smile. "Thanks anyway." She snuggled to the big puffy jacket Raiha put on her shoulder. 

"Sorry for the wait! Raiha-san?" Yanagi walked out of the kitchen and looked puzzled seeing Raiha and Fuuko together. 

'Raiha is joining us for dinner tonight." Fuuko simply stated. "Is that ok?" 

"Sure! I haven't seen Raiha-san for a while also." Yanagi put on her jacket and gloves. "Raiha-san, are you sure you won't be cold in this kind of weather? You are only wearing a sweater!" 

---------------------------------------------------- 

Later that evening in Uruha mansion's Living room. 

"Two hundred. I bet they are getting back together." 

"Recca, are you that sure?" Kurei looked at his brother. 

"Two hundred. I bet they are getting back together also." 

"Neon, you too?" 

"From what I've seen tonight, I bet they'll get back together. Two hundred." 

"Yanagi-chan…." 

"Hmm… one hundred. I bet they are getting back together." 

"Koganei?" 

"Fifty. Back together." 

"Ganko?????" 

Kurei swiped the sweat on his forehead. At this rate he is going to lose big time… 

"Kurei-han! Two thousand. I bet they are not getting back together." 

"Joker?" Everyone turned with an astonished look on his or her face, except for Kurei, who gave a sigh of relief. *Guess I won't lose much after all.* Kurei smiled. 

"Well, 'not getting back together' has a rate of 1:100 and 'getting back together' is 1:2 right?" Joker flashed his fang grin and shrugged. 

"Moron." Neon murmured to no one in particular. 

"Anyone else?" Kurei jotted down everyone's bet in his little blue book -- the Uruha gambling journal. 

"Should we call Mikagami niichan for his bet also?" Koganei asked. 

"Oh yeah, give him a call will you?" Kurei barely looked up and started counting the bets he had collected. "Getting back together -- Recca, Yanagi, Neon, … Totaled 17 bets. Two thousand fifty dollars. Not getting back together -- Joker. Totaled 1 bet. Two thousand dollars." Kurei stared at his little notebook and thought, "Ah, the total doesn't look half bad." He smiled. 

"Mikagami niichan said he doesn't want anything to do with this stupid bet thing!" Koganei shouted across the room when he hung up. 

"Did you describe to him how they were though? Mikagami senpai usually needs a little facts before he would join the game." Yanagi added. 

"Yeah, he just kept on muttering 'baka, baka' then shouted 'I don't want anything to do with this!' then hung up." Koganei shrugged. 

Meanwhile, at the Mikagami residence, an angry kenshi can be spotted drinking beer while cursing mercilessly at the TV. 

"Who cares about a damn monkey??!!!!!" 

The neighborhood within one-mile radius of the Mikagami residence heard this phrase every 15 minutes for the rest of the night until someone actually picked up the phone to call the police. 

   [1]: mailto:pink_yuki@hotmail.com



	5. Punch

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 4 - Punch

Again, I don't own any of the characters and Flame of Recca is copyright to Anzai-sensei…blah blah blah…so who do you want me to pair Fuuko with? [Email me][1] your thoughts, ok? 

Love Love Aishiteru, 

Pink Yuki 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"So the police went to your place?" Kurei finally looked up from the rack of jackets he was looking at. "What for?" 

"Disturbance. Apparently I was talking to myself a bit too loud." Mikagami tried on a red jacket, his voice slightly pissed off. "Nope, I don't think this suits me at all." 

Kurei eyed Mikagami like a fashion specialist. "The cutting doesn't fit you." 

"Alexander McQueen never fits me." Mikagami took off the jacket and put it back on the rack. 

"You are coming to the Christmas party tomorrow night right?" Kurei asked Mikagami when they walked out of the store and made their way towards the car park. 

"I think so. I have nothing else to do anyway." 

"Well, I am sure those girls in college will be lining up to have a date with you." Kurei grinned. "Mayumi, Hiroko, Sakura, Saori… all those girls in the Mikagami Tokiya fan club." 

"I would rather spend my day alone than with any of those ditz." Mikagami said in a disgusted tone. "It surprises me how all these girls manage to survive with an IQ lower than Domon!" 

"According to Joker's research, all Madougu holders have an average IQ of 118." Kurei smiled. "Believe it or not, Domon is not the one with the lowest IQ score." 

Kurei's smile widened upon Mikagami's questioning gaze, "Mokuren has the lowest score of 93. Domon is an average 99." 

"I knew he wouldn't get past two digits." Mikagami snickered. 

"Now, back to the Christmas party, who are you going to invite as your partner?" 

"Partner?" Mikagami settled himself in Kurei's silver Jaguar XK convertible, "since when are we required to take a partner?" 

"There is no such rule, but then after the other day I thought you would ask Fuuko to go with you." Kurei started the engine and shrugged. 

"What other day?" Mikagami narrowed his eyes. *What the heck is he talking about?* He thought. *I didn't put on Neon's clothes again, did I?* 

"Oh yeah, you forget everything when you were drunk…" Kurei laughed under his breath. "Never mind what I say then." 

"Tell me." 

"It's really nothing…" Kurei suddenly felt a chill down his spine. At the corner of his eyes, he could see Mikagami giving him a Tell-me-or-you-are-going-to-have-a-taste-of-my-ensui stare. "Well, you two did kiss in the welcome back party, rather passionately I might add." Kurei let out a sigh of relief when Mikagami diverted his gaze to the window. 

*So I was the one who kiss Fuuko? No…I mean… that monkey? How nice…no, I mean, what the heck was I thinking?* Mikagami shook his head frantically, while Kurei watched with amusement. 

---------------------------------------------- 

All Ura Buto Satsujin participants were invited to the Christmas party at the Uruha mansion. Kurei also asked people to bring dates, since the male to female ratio was something close to 7:1. Raiha made his appearance promptly at 9.30, and to no one's surprise, with Fuuko in his arms. 

"Niichan, you are bound to loose big time. Much more than when we bet on Domon asking Aki out!" Recca put his arm around Kurei and smiled widely. "You'd better prepare my money soon!" Recca laughed and Kurei frowned slightly. 

"Well, it's not official yet, right?" Kurei drank his Chivas on the rocks in one gulp. "At least I will have Joker's money to pay you guys." 

"Easy with the liquor Kurei-sama, it's not even 10 yet." 

The brothers turned to see Raiha standing behind them, with Fuuko smiling next to him. "Seriously, Kurei you are going to black out before midnight if you keep on drinking like that." Fuuko teased. 

"You look wonderful tonight, Fuuko." Kurei stared at Fuuko, who was dressed in a tight spaghetti strap black dress, and smiled. "So in order to keep my hands away from the drinks, would you dance with me?" 

"All in all a ladies man now, Kurei-sama? But Fuuko-san already promised to have the first dance with me." Raiha smiled and took Fuuko to the dance floor. Fuuko looked back and grinned, "Kurei, I will come for your dance in a minute, okay?" 

"And you say they are not back together." Recca stated matter-of-factly. 

"Maybe I should call my banker now?" Kurei muttered to himself while pouring himself another drink. 

"Recca-kun, do you notice a rather scary aura over there?" Yanagi walked over after greeting Saicho and Misora at the door. 

"Scary aura?" Recca looked over to the corner of the bar. "Yeah, it is rather scary, isn't it? Gives me chills down my spine…." 

Mikagami was standing in a dark corner by the bar, observing the purple haired pair on the dance floor. *So she is back with that Pokemon look alike? Hmmp…why would I care? * Unnoticed by their owner, Mikagami's eyes were shooting daggers to the dance floor. 

"Mi…Mi…Mikagami senpai?" A voice rose behind him, he turned to find Yanagi standing there with Recca. "Are you ok? You are giving off a, err…, rather strange aura…." Yanagi asked worriedly. 

"I am ok." Mikagami squeezed a smile, which in reality scare the hell out of Recca and Yanagi as it twisted Mikagami's bishounen face into a Picasso drawing. "Merry Christmas; and would you excuse me for a minute?" He walked over to Kurei and demanded a drinking contest. 

------------------------------------- 

"Fuuko-san, you still dance so well." Raiha smiled lovingly at his partner. 

"You taught me, remember?" Fuuko laughed at his comment. "Is this another way to praise yourself, Raiha?" 

"Your tongue is too sharp for your own good, Fuuko-san." Raiha grinned. 

"Whatever." Fuuko smiled. "I think I should go get Kurei now, I don't want the owner of this mansion be mad at me." She winked. 

"Yeah, I should go catch up with Joker and Neon too… "He glanced over just in time to see Joker being whacked by the red haired assassin. "Or to stop them from killing each other." He sighed. 

"I doubt they will kill each other, see how Domon and Aki are? They WERE trying to kill each other, and see how sweet they are now?" Fuuko pointed at the fireplace direction, where the nose-pierced man was presenting Aki the 500 red roses he has bought her for Christmas. 

"I guess, but before those two behave like normal human beings, I think I'd better go over before Neon tries Requiem on Joker." Raiha kissed Fuuko on the forehead and walked away. 

Fuuko searched for her best friend and finally saw Yanagi dancing with Recca in a dark corner near the dance floor. "Forever so lovey dovey, I guess I should go get Kurei then." She shrugged and walked over to the bar. 

"Mikagami, I am not giving you anymore drinks after this until midnight, you understand?" Kurei handed Mikagami his 12th gin and tonic in the course of an hour. 

"Kurei! Mi-chan! Merry Christmas!" Fuuko walked over to the bar. "Mi-chan…don't drink so fast, you are going to…" As if on queue, Mikagami started coughing. "…Choke." Fuuko finished her sentence with a huge sweatdrop and quickly grabbed some napkins nearby for Mikagami. 

"See." Fuuko stroked Mikagami's back slowly hoping to soothe him a little. "Gee… you are all red already. How many did you drink? At this rate you are not going to be awake for the Christmas cake Yanagi baked." 

"12 gin and tonic, plus a few screwdrivers." Kurei answered for Mikagami. "I told him not to drink that much, but he just wouldn't listen." He shrugged. 

"I am FINE." Mikagami growled. " And aren't you supposed to be with Mr. Raichu over there? Leave me alone." He stared at Fuuko. Much to her surprise, Fuuko saw intense hatred and sadness in his eyes. Was it her illusion, or did she saw longing in there also? 

Fuuko regained her composure and felt irritated at Mikagami's words. "I was just trying to be nice and come see you two, so stop being a freak and jumped at me!" Fuuko stood straight with a hand on her hips. "And for your information, his name is Raiha, not Raichu! Kurei, let's leave this loser here. Come dance with me." She grabbed Kurei and walked away without another look at the ensui wielder. 

*Hmmp… she even chooses Kurei over me…who cares…* "That monkey!" 

"I heard that!" Fuuko yelled back. "Thanks for such NICE words on Christmas Eve! Fridge Boy!" 

"What's with Mi-chan today?" Fuuko asked Kurei on the dance floor. "He seems so… touchy? No, bad tempered." 

"No idea." Kurei shook his head. The song turned into a slower pace and Kurei held Fuuko closer. "You know, you are the first dance partner I had who can keep up with my pace." 

"You went to dance lessons with Raiha right? He danced as your partner." Fuuko giggled. "Raiha taught me, so it's just natural we dance well together." She smiled warmly at the fire master. 

Kurei and Fuuko danced for a long time while having a conversation about their childhood. Fuuko was surprised that Kurei would tell her such personal matter, but nonetheless delighted to know he treated her as a friend. 

"You don't think your brother is falling for Fuuko-han, do you?" Joker was sitting near the fireplace with Recca, Yanagi, Domon and Aki, after being nearly torn apart by Neon. 

"Well, they do look cute together, don't they?" Yanagi said with dreamy eyes. It was obvious that she was already dreaming of those two getting together. 

"Fuuko would probably like to be with someone like Kurei. Someone who treats her well yet independent." Domon said matter-of-factly. "Right, koishii?" 

"I don't know Fuuko-san that well, but I think Kurei-sama would want a girl as individualistic as Fuuko-san is." Aki looked over to the couple. "Neon-neechan is too head over heels, Kurei-sama is scared of girls like her." Aki shook her head and sighed. 

"Oh, Aki-han, don't worry! I am always here for Neon-han!" Joker quickly said while the others just gave him a dream-on expression in unison. 

"Where is Koganei anyway? Haven't seen him all night." Domon desperately tried to change the topic. He knew how long Joker can go on declaring his undying love for Neon, or rather, declaring how absolutely irresistible he is to all female species. "He is usually here for such events." 

"He went out with that little fan club of his." Recca lazily replied. "To karaoke or something. Isn't it nice, to spend Christmas Eve with five girls. He said he would be back by midnight though, since the girls can't stay out late." 

"Yeah, and so I am back. Is the cake ready yet?" Koganei suddenly jumped onto Recca from behind. "All five of them asked me out tonight, you know, it's so hard to be a heartthrob…" Koganei continued to brag about his difficulties being the most popular guy in his class with his famous fanged grin on his face. 

"GET OFF ME YOU BRAT!" Recca jumped, preparing to burn Koganei with his flame. 

"Let's get the cake out! It's almost midnight. Recca-kun, why don't you come help me?" Yanagi quickly asked in order to save Kaoru from a painful death. 

"Sure, hime." Recca eyed Koganei dangerously before walking off to the kitchen direction. 

"Kaoru-chan, you just never learn do you? Recca-han is pretty touchy when it comes to being popular bishounen like us!" Joker laughed as Kaoru and him shared the fanged grin. 

------------------------------------ 

"Merry Christmas!" Everyone shouted. 

"As the organizer of this party, I would like to thank everyone for coming and spend time with me and my family." Kurei stood on a chair and happily said. " Now let's cut the cake and drink on!" Everyone cheered. 

"Hey! Where's the mistletoe?" Someone cried out from the back of the room. Everyone turned and see none the other but Fujimaru and his date, whom to everyone's surprise was a charming looking girl. "You can't have a Christmas without mistletoe, can you?" Fujimaru, with a hentai look on his face, asked again. 

"Ano… it's on the Christmas tree." Yanagi replied, while blushing furiously as she met Recca's gaze. 

Suddenly, all the couples (and those who got dragged, such as Neon by Joker) dashed for the Christmas tree. "Am I the only female here without a date?" Fuuko looked around and saw Misora standing not far from her. "Misora-san? How come you are here?" She looked at the very blushed Misora, then noticed the equally red Saicho standing next to her. 

"Well, Odousan is here…" Misora looked over to Kuukai, who was singing loudly to 'Rudolph the red nose reindeer' with Gashakura and Kashamaru. 

"Aren't you two officially a couple though?" Fuuko watched the two of them getting even redder. "Oh well, there is another mistletoe hanging near the bar so…" Before Fuuko could finish her sentence, Saicho already pulled Misora away. "Lovers." Fuuko laughed behind them. 

"Fuuko-san, there you are." Raiha walked up from behind. "Fancy a little trip to the Christmas tree? We can..." He put on his goofy smile and whispered the last part of his words to Fuuko's ears. 

"I don't think so, my dear Raiha. We would just disturb those who are there." Fuuko smiled. 

"Oh, come on." Raiha grinned when he heard an ice-cold voice rose behind him. "Didn't you hear her saying no?" 

Raiha turned around and found a red-faced Mikagami behind him. "I was just asking…" *WHAM!* Before Raiha could finish his sentence, Mikagami used all his energy and punched Raiha in the face. 

"Itai! What the hell do you think you are doing?" Raiha stepped back and looked at Mikagami angrily. 

"You shouldn't push your luck with Fuuko. You left her, remember?" Mikagami looked at Raiha with one of his iciest stare. 

"For god's sake! I was just asking Fuuko-san if she wants to go open the presents under the Christmas tree!" Raiha shouted. " And you hit me in the face for that? She is my cousin! I wouldn't dare try anything on her." Raiha rubbed his face and sat down on the couch nearby. 

"SHE IS YOUR WHAT?" Everyone around gathered and asked with intense enthusiasm. 

"My cousin! I only found out that she is my cousin today when I went to pick her up. Her father saw me and recognized me, and it turns out that he is my grandfather's sister's son." Raiha felt the pain fading and was startled by the crowd around him. "Is there something wrong?" He nervously asked. 

"Whoa!!! I win! I win!" Joker jumped in the air then jumped onto Raiha, putting his face close enough to even kissing the ninja. "Raiha my man! 1 to 100, that's 200,000 dollars!! Thanks to you! Whoa!" 

"Can somebody explain what's going on here?" Raiha pushed Joker onto the floor and asked with a confused voice. 

"They were betting whether Fuuko and you are getting back together." Mikagami said with a sigh of relief. 

"Oh yeah, where is Kurei-sama now? I need to collect my cash! haha….huh?"Joker looked around and his face suddenly froze at where the Christmas tree was. Everyone turned to look why Joker was in shock and all of them froze in unison upon seeing the Christmas tree. 

Fuuko and Kurei were kissing under the mistletoe.

   [1]: mailto:pink_yuki@hotmail.com



	6. Secret

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 5 - Secret

Yosha! Fifth chapter done! One more chapter and this will finally be finished. Seriously, I am having trouble continuing this T.T My creative juices don't flow well these days….

As usual, standard disclaimer applied. I don't claim any credits in characters, etc as they all belong to Anzai Nobuyuki sensei. What do you think of my story though? [Email me][1] your thoughts!

Love Love Aishiteru,

Pink Yuki

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Upon seeing Fuuko and Kurei under the mistletoe, the following happened:

  1. Recca was so shocked that he tripped while holding Yanagi's cake; the cake went flying and landed right on Koganei's head.
  2. Neon fainted. Joker offered to take her to his room and got whacked by both Aki and Miki.
  3. Kuukai, Gashakura, and Kashamaru switched their singing from 'Rudolph the red nose reindeer' to 'Can you feel the love tonight'.
  4. Mikagami turned into stone. Raiha, who was nearby, could hear him murmured Tsurara something, or sometime Hebi.

---------------------------

Fuuko broke the kiss. Kurei loosened his embrace with a smile and said "Merry Christmas! And thanks."

"My pleasure, since I didn't get you a present." Fuuko winked. "When you said you wanted a present, I thought you would ask me to join Uruha instead of a kiss!"

"It's lonely to have a lover who cannot kiss you." Kurei summoned Kurenai. "I won't love anyone as much as I loved Kurenai; in fact, I won't love anyone except for Kurenai. Yet it would still be nice to have a kiss on Christmas." He gazed lovingly at his flame and sighed.

Fuuko looked sympathetically at Kurei and gave him a hug. She let go of Kurei and turned to see a very stunned crowd. "Ano…Kurei?" Fuuko sweatdropped. "What's up with them?"

Kurei looked up in time to see Joker throwing himself at him. "Kurei-han!" The braided man gave the flame master a bear hug. "I won! Raiha admitted it. 200,000 dollars! When can I have it?" Joker finally let go of Kurei. "And nice work with Fuuko-han!" He whispered the last part.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kurei was trying his best not to summon a full force Kurenai at Joker. Suddenly, what Joker said sank in, "You won?" Kurei turned to see a fanged grin and a v-sign from his subordinate.

"I should really call my banker now… 200,000 dollars. Darn…" Kurei whispered to himself. He slowly walked out of the door towards his study, with Joker bouncing and jumping after him.

"Fuuko-san?" Fuuko was still shocked from the little Joker incident when she heard the familiar voice behind her. She turned to see the purple haired ninja. "You and Kurei-sama…." His voice trailed off as he still could not believe what he saw.

"Kurei just want a kiss for Christmas." She smiled. "It's so sad that he cannot touch Kurenai anymore, ne?" Raiha just nodded in response.

"Oh, so that was it?" Aki walked over with Domon. "Thank god! Neon-neechan nearly had a heart attack! Well, she would still be upset that she wasn't the one to kiss Kurei-sama, but nonetheless she would stop thinking of strangling you." Domon and Aki let out a sigh of relief together.

Fuuko laughed. "For goodness' sake! Even a blind person can see there is nothing between me and Kurei! It's just a friendly kiss!" Her three companions just looked at her and shrugged.

"Ano… sorry to disturb you. But did you guys see Mikagami senpai? The cake is ruined but still we are going to open the presents right?" Yanagi tapped Domon on the shoulder, holding a neatly wrapped present. "I was just distributing the presents but he was no where to be found…"

"Yanagi-san, I think I saw Mikagami-san ran out of the door a minute ago." Raiha turned to the healer. "Should I help you with the presents?"

"What the heck is wrong with the fridge boy now? Running out of the party like this." Fuuko asked Domon, who just shook his head and walked towards the presents.

---------------------------------------

Mikagami was making the twists and turns down the road in his beloved 'glace', a silver Toyota Celica. *What the heck is she thinking? Kissing Kurei like that….* He pushed the accelerator with such vengeance and the car sped through the highway. *What the heck did I do anyway? Why did I punch Raiha?* His thought annoyed him and he pushed the accelerator even harder.

Mikagami turned the car into the garage and walked out of the car, slamming the door hard. "After all I have to spend Christmas alone." He whispered to himself.

"Tadaima." He walked into the living room but, as usual, no one answered him. How he wished to come home one night and have someone waiting for him! How he wished to see someone walk out of the kitchen and say a simple "Okairi!"! That purple haired someone…

"Now what am I thinking?" He smiled bitterly to himself. He IS the lone wolf, isn't he?

Mikagami took off his jacket and landed himself on the couch. He turned on the TV unconsciously just in time to see the lovers' Christmas special. The program host was interviewing pair after pair of lovers. "How nice." Mikagami said sulkily and turned off the TV.

He picked up a can of beer from the fridge and walked over the cabinet. "Neechan, Merry Christmas." He looked into the picture of Mifuyu and smiled.

He turned his gaze and looked at the picture next to Mifuyu's. The Hokage team picture taken after the Ura Buto Satsujin. Fuuko had made a handful of copies and distributed them to all members. Even though he protested, Fuuko has forced her way to putting the picture up in his house.

He picked up the framed picture and once again settled himself on the couch. Koganei's fanged grin; Yanagi and Recca smiling sweetly into each other's eyes; Domon showing off his muscles; Mikagami himself standing on the side, with Fuuko's arm tightly clinging onto his. She said it was to prevent him from running away.

Mikagami smiled into the picture. "Those were the good days." He looked more intently at the picture. She forced him to smile then. She was screaming on top of her lungs, "Mou! Mi-chan, lift the corners of your lips! It's not THAT hard!" She was threatening to use Fuujin on him.

He chuckled at the thought. She had made him smile; not a lot, but one could still see the curve of his lips in the picture. That was the first picture with him smiling since Mifuyu died.

The familiar tune of "Mizu no Kenshi" started ringing in the room. Mikagami put the picture down and searched for his cell phone from his jacket.

"Mikagami here."

"Hey, how come you leave so early? I didn't even get to say goodbye!" Kurei's voice was unusually irritating to Mikagami. "Anyway, the party is over now and I am taking Fuuko home. We will drop by your place to give you your presents okay?" Without Mikagami's answer, Kurei already hung up.

"So they are together now? What the..." Mikagami stared at his phone. "Presents? Yeah, I left without opening any..." He put down his cell phone and drank some more beer. Within minutes, the doorbell rang.

"Mi-chan! You might want to help me with this..." Fuuko's voice rose behind the pile of presents in front of him. He quickly took the pile and saw a dazzling smile in front of him. "Kurei, I will get home by myself. See you later!" Fuuko grinned at the flame master. Kurei waved from his kawaii yellow Beetle and left.

Fuuko let herself into the Mikagami residence. "Your place hasn't change a bit." She commented while Mikagami walked back into the living room. "Open your presents!" Fuuko pulled him down onto the couch and handed him one of the presents.

"Err... okay." was all Mikagami could mutter. He unwrapped the present and found a 5000 pieces puzzle inside. "This is from Koganei, right? Gee, not everyone likes puzzle as much as he does!" He felt warmth in his heart when he thought of the little anki wielder.

"Second one... a whole selection of hair accessories?" He looked up in confusion and saw Fuuko laughing hysterically. "That's from Uruha. Neon, Miki, Tsukishiro... all of them. They thought you would need it." She was laughing so much she thought she could die.

"Gee... half of them are pink.... wonder what they were thinking." Mikagami looked through the whole pile and laughed also.

"Okay, this is from Recca." Fuuko handed him another present, and again she broke into a hysterical laugh. The present was wrapped in pink Barbie wrapping paper.

"Very funny." Mikagami snickered. He torn the wrapping paper and found a sea monkey exhibit inside. There was a note on the side stating "Don't yell at me when you are angry, yell at him! I have named it 'hanabi' for you." Mikagami just looked at the exhibit in shock. *Recca, don't you ever think of getting away when I am angry.* He grinned evilly at his thought.

"This one is from Yanagi. Hey, I am going to get a beer from your fridge okay?" Fuuko handed him another present and walked off towards his kitchen.

Mikagami has opened nearly all of the present when Fuuko came back. "Oh, that's from me." She smiled as Mikagami picked up the last present in the pile.

He was surprised to find a law textbook inside. "Might be useful when you get into college. Fuuko." He read from the note attached with the book.

"Thank you." He whispered as he continued to stare at the note. Fuuko smiled warmly at the ensui wielder and finished her beer.

"Well, thank you for you present also." She pushed her hair backwards and a pair of dangling diamond earrings could be seen.

Mikagami looked up and smiled. "I knew they would fit you."

"Well, I think I'd better go home now." Fuuko stood up and Mikagami walked her to the door. "Thanks again for the earrings." She kissed Mikagami on the cheeks.

Mikagami felt a burning sensation. It seemed like all his blood was racing towards his head. His feet have gone wobbly and his mind went blank. He has the urge to grab Fuuko but before he reacted, Fuuko has already pulled away and left.

*What was that I felt? It was just a kiss on the cheeks. A friendly one. So why do I have this feeling?* Mikagami stood at his door for a whole five minutes before he could walk back inside.

-------------------------------

Mikagami walked into the Uruha mansion with Tsukishiro after their biweekly ritual of going to the salon together. After all, bishounens like them have the responsibilities to keep their appearance perfect, or so Tsukishiro says.

"Mikagami, you shouldn't frown that much. You will have wrinkles before you know." Tsukishiro sat down on his bed and put sliced cucumber on his eyes.

"I was born that way, I cannot do much about it." Mikagami shrugged and picked up the cucumber slices.

"Well, in that picture of the Hokage team you smiled." Tsukishiro pointed out. "So don't give me that 'I was born that way' answer."

"Whatever." Mikagami took off the cucumber slices from his eyes and picked up the latest fashion magazine from Tsukishiro's desk. "So purple is the "in" color this year huh?"

"Yeah, I was thinking of dying my hair Fuuko's color." Tsukishiro started hanging up his new clothes. "But then I thought it might be too much. I got this purple Miu Miu shirt though." He waved his latest conquest to Mikagami. "Then again it would probably get ruined when I go on a mission for Kurei-sama…"

"You wear all these clothes to fight?" Mikagami narrowed his eyes.

"As if you don't wear your Armani suits when you were in Ura Buto Satsujin." Tsukishiro quickly replied.

"Well…" Mikagami thought of his white Gucci suit he wore during the UBS. "…it was Gucci." He whispered under his breath.

"So what are you going to wear to the New Year's party?" Tsukishiro never turned his admiring gaze from his closet. "I don't want to wear the same suit as you. Just in case."

"Don't know yet." Mikagami shook his head slightly.

"Gee… you haven't decided yet? It's only two days away!" Tsukishiro exclaimed. "I planned what I wanted to wear at least a week ago!"

"Just tell me what you are going to wear then I won't wear the same one." Mikagami covered his eyes with the magazine. *Tsukishiro is getting more feminine by the day.* He thought.

"This." Tsukishiro pulled out a navy blue Tuxedo from his closet. "It would go well with Naomi-chan's dress." He smiled proudly at his choice.

"Naomi-chan?" Mikagami remembered the girl from a party they went to. She was a ditz, but with a great body and a beautiful face. Tsukishiro rushed towards her the minute they stepped into the party. At the end of the night Mikagami could see them making out in a dark corner away from everyone. "That blonde?"

"Yeah, she agreed to be my date." Tsukishiro beamed. "Do you have a date for the night?"

"Good for you." Mikagami lazily replied. "And no, I don't have a date." His mind, however, was thinking of the purple haired girl who has entered his dreams every night since Christmas Eve.

"Well, you should." Tsukishiro finished with putting his clothes away and settled back down on his bed. "Neon finally agreed to be Joker's date this morning. Raiha is bringing this girl from his dojo. And I heard that even Kurei-sama was going to ask someone."

"Kurei? Is he asking Fuuko?" Mikagami could only think of Fuuko and Kurei kissing under the Christmas tree.

"I don't know." Tsukishiro answered truthfully. "Say, it seems like you care for Fuuko-chan a lot, why don't you ask her to be your date?" Tsukishiro grinned.

"Well…" Mikagami could not finish his sentence. "I..." He blushed.

It was unusual for Mikagami to stumble with words, and it was even more rare for him to blush. Tsukishiro watched him with interest and decided to push it a little further. "Do you like her?"

"I..." Mikagami struggled with words in his mind. "I don't dislike her." He finally said. 

"I'll take it as like. Hey, let's do this little test here in Cosmopolitan." Tsukishiro picked up a magazine on his bedside table. "It's Neon's. I don't buy women's magazine myself." He added as he saw Mikagami's questioning gaze. 

"Okay, first question. Do you think you know her well?" Tsukishiro read from the book. 

"I guess…" Mikagami muttered. He was forced to exchange life stories with the gang during one of the nights in the UBS, so technically he knew Fuuko's past. 

"Let's see… goes to question 4. Right, did you ever want to buy her presents for no apparent reason?" 

"No." Mikagami pondered a while before he answered. He did saw a cute bracelet the other day and thought he would buy it for her, but then he didn't, so it didn't count, right? 

"Goes to question 7…did you ever have the urge to kiss her?" Tsukishiro looked up after reading the question. His eyes were shining wickedly. 

"Err…." Mikagami blushed slightly. He thought of the other day when Fuuko gave him a kiss on the cheeks and quietly answered. "Yes." 

"Oh you did!" Tsukishiro grinned widely as Mikagami face went a shade redder. "Alright… goes to answer B…"Tsukishiro turned the page, "Answer B: You are in love with that person…" 

Tsukishiro kept on reading the answer but Mikagami could not hear a word. *I am in love with her?* He shook his head frantically. *Maybe I am…I can't be in love with that monkey can I?* 

"My friend, maybe you should go ask Fuuko to be your date." Tsukishiro finally finished reading the paragraph. "Before Kurei-sama does." He added. 

Mikagami snapped out of his thought. "I think I would be better off going alone." He stated his conclusion. "Well, I must be going now. See you at the New Year's party okay?" He ran out of the Uruha mansion and sped off in his car, feeling extremely confused. 

------------------------------- 

Security Room. 

"So that's why Mikagami has been acting all weird since Fuuko came back." A voice lazily said from the chair. 

"Explains why he kissed her with such passion and urgency too." Another voice rose from the corner. 

"Kurei-han, maybe you should just send the invitation to Fuuko-han instead of asking her to be your date." Joker appeared from the shadow and turned down the volume of the security system. 

"I guess so. Too bad I already had the speech memorized." Kurei rose from the chair and stretched. "Now I have to find a different date. Any suggestions?" 

Recca walked out of the corner with a smile on his face. "If you invite anyone else, I bet Kurenai would abandon you and becomes my flame also." His smile grew wider, "After all Kurenai knows Fuuko is not interested in you that way." 

"True. I guess I have to attend alone then." Kurei said with a frown on his face. "At least I would see a great show that night." 

All three of them grinned as they thought of different scenarios Mikagami would get into, of course, due to their influences, and walked out of the security room completely satisfied. 

   [1]: mailto:pink_yuki@hotmail.com



	7. Plan

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 6 - Plan

I WAS going to finish the story in this chapter, but there are just too many things I have to say! (or I am just really bad at English that I cannot express myself in two words except for two sentences...) Sorry I did this something like 4 in the morning feeling all hyper and so I threw in a lot of other anime/manga characters… As usual, standard disclaimer applied. All characters belong to Anzai Nobuyuki sensei. 

Love Love Aishiteru,

Pink Yuki

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"Fuuko-san! This way, this way!" A blue haired girl was waving frantically outside the mall, with a brunette and two red haired beauties standing next to her.

"Sorry I am late!" Fuuko rushed past the crowd towards her shopping companions. "I have to go to the bank before coming here." She stopped in front of the girls, slightly panting.

"Fuuko-san, don't worry. We only arrived 5 minutes ago." Yanagi smiled sweetly at her best friend. "Let's get going, shall we?"

They arrived at a large department store and quickly dived into the formal wear section. "Neon-sama, what do you think of this?" Miki pulled out a short blue dress from the rack.

"Not bad, why don't you go try it on?" Neon nodded in approval. Aki, who was standing next to Miki, could hear her whispered under her breath, "Wonder if he would like it?"

Aki's face lit up and she quickly shouted at the others, "Hey, I think Miki here has a crush on someone!" She laughed as Miki lightly punched her on the arms.

"Who?" Neon walked over, smiling evilly. "Miki, you have to tell me everything you know. Or else…"

"She'll tickle you to death." Yanagi smiled innocently behind Neon. "So why don't you tell us who you like?"

"Tsu...Tsu…Tsu…" Miki blushed. "You all know I like pretty boys, so it's not that hard to figure out is it?" She turned away from the knowing grins of her friends.

"Tsukishiro ne?" Fuuko grinned. "He is a pretty boy in all senses."

"Yeah, just like the time when you had a crush on Mikagami-san. You are hopeless when it comes to pretty boys." Aki teased as her sister turned a shade redder.

*Mikagami.* Fuuko suddenly felt a pound in her heart. Ever since the night she went to his house, she has been having all kinds of dreams about Mikagami. Dreams of him kissing her softly, telling her he misses her. Dreams of him holding her in his arms. Dreams of him telling her he loves her…

"Fuuko-san?" A voice rose and snapped her out of her thought. "Are you okay? You face is red all of a sudden…" Yanagi looked at her friend curiously.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Fuuko jumped back. "I was just… I was just…" She quickly grabbed the nearest item within her reach. "I was just wondering what this would look on me."

"Ano…You sure you want to wear something like that?" Neon looked over with a sweatdrop.

Fuuko looked at the dress in her hands. It was multi-color with a bow on the front AND back. *Even Ganko won't put something like this on her Barbie…* Fuuko sweatdropped and shoved the dress back onto the rack.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Your dress is beautiful, Yanagi-chan. I am sure Recca will die of nose bleeding too much tomorrow night." Fuuko teased. Joker has come to pick them up but Yanagi and Fuuko decided to walk home by themselves.

"Mou!" The healer blushed. "If he is going to nose bleed it will be because of Neon-san or you! I didn't know you like dresses like that."

Yanagi has chosen a simple white DKNY dress that makes her looked like the princess she is supposed to be. Neon bought a black Verasce dress that has a slit up to mid-thigh, enhancing her long legs.

Fuuko took a peep into her shopping bag. Yes, indeed it was truly unlike her to buy a red dress that is backless and short, but Aki was showering her with all sorts of compliments that she paid for it before she knew it.

"It would probably look good with Kurei's suit though." Yanagi said with dreamy eyes.

"How many times do I need to tell you there is nothing between Kurei and me?" Fuuko faked an irritated face at Yanagi, who just stuck her tongue out in response.

Fuuko knew Kurei saw her as a friend, just like she saw him as a big brother type figure. Her mind shifted to that special someone in her dreams. That special silver haired someone…

"FUUKO!" Yanagi raised her voice next to the Fuujin wielder's ears. "Gee… where were you? I was trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes!" Yanagi looked at her best friend. "So, who are you going to the party with?"

"Gomen. I was thinking of something." Fuuko smiled apologetically. "I think I am going on my own."

"Why don't you go with me? We can dress up at my place. Kurei and Recca are coming to pick me up anyways."

"Sure." Fuuko looked at her friend and smiled. "I'd love to do that."

-------------------------------------------------------

"Hime! You are so beautiful tonight! No, you are beautiful everyday, but you are so stunning in that dress!"

"Recca-kun…"

Little hearts could be spotted twirling around the two of them as Recca got down to his knees and kissed Yanagi's hand.

"I know I am not the most knowledgeable guy in terms of social techniques, but do you think that is somewhat disturbing?" Kurei leaned towards his burgundy Rolls Royce Corniche and asked Fuuko, who came out a minute earlier than Yanagi.

"Very much so." Fuuko looked at her two best friends staring into each other's eyes, whispering to each other. "Hey you two! Cut it out and get in the car!" Fuuko raised her voice so that the lovers would finally acknowledge her existence.

"Oh yeah." Yanagi and Recca blushed furiously and walked towards the car.

"Let's go then." Kurei started the engine and sped off towards the Uruha mansion.

"Kurei-han! You come back so late!" Joker ran out of the mansion. "Everything is done and most of the guests are here. Oh, Fuuko-han, you look so good tonight!" His exaggerated exclaim caused both girls to giggle.

"Now, Joker, if I am not mistaken you DO have a date to take care of…" Kurei smiled at his subordinate.

"Neon-han said she wouldn't see me until you are back." Joker whined. "She said she was afraid of what I will do if you are not here. Isn't it a horrible thing to say? I am such a charming, well mannered, good natured, polite…"

"Okay Joker, we get the point here." Recca laughed. "Let's get in and you go get your date then." With that they all walked into the Uruha mansion.

The place was filled with familiar faces. Fuuko walked arm in arm with Kurei and greeted the crowd that came forward.

"I didn't know I invited that many people?" Fuuko heard Kurei muttered as Raiha and his date walked away.

"They all bring dates." Fuuko smiled towards the flame master. "Don't you have a date tonight?"

"No." Kurei frowned a little. "Just as Recca said before, Kurenai might become his flame if I get too close to some random girl. Kurenai is rather picky when it comes to judging my taste in girls."

"She doesn't seem to mind when we were together." Fuuko looked at him quizzically.

"She knows we don't have that chemistry there, and she knows you are not one of those ditz. She fought with you, remember?" Kurei smiled at Fuuko.

Fuuko blushed a little. How well she remembered fighting with Kurei! Kurenai nearly killed her with one bow. She turned to hide her embarrassment and she saw Miki sitting by the bar, Aki and Domon frantically trying to stop her from downing the entire bottle of vodka.

"Kurei, excuse me for a minute." She turned to give Kurei an apologetic smile and walked towards the bar.

"Kurei, can I talk to you for a second?" An icy voice rose behind the flame master. Kurei turned to see a very solemn looking Mikagami. "Can we go somewhere private?"

"Sure." Kurei was a startled by Mikagami's coldness. "Let's go to the rose garden, I need some fresh air anyway." He motioned the both of them towards the glass door just outside the dinning room.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Kurei gazed at the roses that bloom even in winter. Mokuren has alternate the genes of the roses a while ago hoping to please Kurei, and indeed Kurei granted him his own botanical garden.

"Is Fuuko your date?" Mikagami asked with his usual emotionless voice. Kurei, however, spotted a hint of jealousy inside.

"No." Kurei smiled as he remembered the little conversation he heard in the security room. "I picked up Yanagi and Fuuko earlier, that's it." His smile widened. "Why? You are not upset are you?"

"What… what…what are you talking about?" Mikagami began to stumble. "Why… why would I be upset?"

"So, it's okay if I ask her out tonight then?" Kurei tried hard to suppress his laughter as Mikagami's face changed into a different color by the minute.

"Do as you like." Mikagami could only mutter the words. *So he is interested in her.* He thought bitterly to himself. *I DON'T CARE!*

Kurei nearly laughed out loud when Mikagami turned and walked away. Isn't this kind of cruel? Kurenai asked within Kurei's mind. But it seems like your plan is working.

"Oh yeah, it's working very well indeed." Kurei smiled towards the roses. "Mission 1: Get Mikagami jealous. Mission accomplished."

Stop pretending you are a Gundam pilot. They are here you know. Kurenai chuckled at Kurei's impression of Heero Yuy.

"Yes, I think I should go entertain my guests now." Kurei turned and walked back into the dinning room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"What happened?" Fuuko rushed over to the bar and saw Miki taking another mouthful of vodka from the bottle. 

"Do-chan, why don't you explain." Aki sighed as she tried to grab the bottle from Miki's hand. 

"Just look over there." Domon pointed towards the dance floor and Fuuko turned to see Tsukishiro dancing with a blonde girl. Their bodies were literally glued together. 

"Oh dear." Fuuko whispered to herself. 

Miki was nearly in tears now. "Why? Why hasn't ANYONE asked me to be his date? Even Koganei has a date! Why?" Miki grabbed the bottle back from Aki and gulped down another mouthful. 

"Miki-san?" A deep voice rose from behind. "Ano… would you like to dance?" A brown haired bishounen was standing behind them as he blushed and asked. 

"Huh?" Miki opened her eyes widely. 

"Ken-kun?" Aki asked in a surprised voice as the boy nodded. "Miki! Remember? Hidaka Ken from Weiβ, the other assassin group we met last year!" 

"You remembered me!" Ken beamed. "Ano… Miki-san, these are for you." He blushed as he handed over a bunch of roses. 

"Thank you." Miki gave Ken a sweet smile. "So… you want to dance?" Ken smiled and took her out to the dance floor. Domon and Aki smiled towards each other and followed their lead. 

"Gee… so they left me here on my own." Fuuko whispered to herself but felt better that Miki was now happily dancing with Ken. 

"Monkey." A voice hissed behind her. 

Fuuko turned and saw Mikagami behind her. "Happy New Year, fridge boy." Fuuko tried to smile as innocently as she could. Her heart was beating faster than usual. 

"Kurei wants to talk to you." Mikagami muttered the words. Why was his heart hurting when he said that? 

"Ok." Fuuko looked at the man in front of her. Why was she feeling disappointed? "I will go get him then." She turned and walked away, oblivious to Mikagami's stare tracing her path until she reached Kurei in the other end of the room. 

Mikagami settled himself on the bar stool and reached for the bottle of vodka Miki left behind. Suddenly someone grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of the chair. 

"What the…" Mikagami turned to see the familiar fanged grin. "Joker, what the heck are you doing?" 

"Hey, can you dance with Neon-han for a while? My feet is starting to hurt…" Joker whined while holding Neon's hands. 

"You are useless. Only three songs and you are out!" Neon stared at her partner for the night, trying not to show her amusement in what she was doing. Joker had told her about the 'Getting Mikagami and Fuuko together' plan and she had willing joined in the fun. "Mikagami, come dance with me." With that she pulled Mikagami onto the dance floor. 

"It's so hard to play a weak man." Joker said to himself with a grin on his face. "Mission 2: Prevent Mikagami from getting drunk. Mission accomplished." He poured himself a drink and laughed. 

------------------------------------------------- 

"Hey, Mikagami, do you think we could act a little more intimate?" Neon leaned towards Mikagami and whispered. "I want to see that baka's face when he is jealous." She giggled. 

"Baka? You mean Joker?" Mikagami looked stunned at Neon's suggestion. 

"Hai! Just hold me a little tighter and smile. That might do the trick." Neon moved her hands to encircle Mikagami's neck and rested her head on Mikagami's shoulders. No matter what angle one was looking at them, they looked like a pair of passionate lovers. 

Joker knew this part of the plan and slipped into a corner so that they could not see them. "Good work, Neon-han." He smiled as he spotted Kurei and Fuuko near the fireplace. "Now it's up to the almighty Joker-han to set mission 3 into motion…" He stopped grinning and ran towards the fireplace. 

"Kurei-han!" Joker called out in a distressed voice as he approached the pair. "Kurei-han! She… Neon-han…she…Mikagami…" He deliberately stumbled his words so that Fuuko would turn and look over to the dance floor. 

Kurei looked at his subordinate in awe. He knew part of the Uruha motto was " Lie, cheat, steal, seduce, betray", but he didn't think Joker has perfected the disguised part this well… 

Fuuko looked furiously at the dance floor. *What the hell is Mi-chan doing? He KNEW Neon was Joker's date.* She bit her lips unconsciously. *Why am I feeling this way anyway? Am I jealous? No. I am just worried about Joker…* 

Neon looked over in search of Joker and when she saw him near the fireplace, she let out a soft chuckle. How her date has played the part well! That look on his face, even though not genuine, was truly worth a million. She took another look and saw a certain purpled haired sending death glares towards them. Neon smiled and whispered to herself, "Mission 3: Getting Fuuko jealous. Mission accomplished."

"I think we succeed." She whispered into Mikagami's ears. 

Mikagami turned to see a nearly crying Joker and laughed also. Then he noticed a pair of burning eyes on him. Fuuko. 


	8. Together

# Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 7 - Together

NO MORE. I am finished with this. So what do you guys think? Standard disclaimer applied. Don't sue me as I just received my bills today and was dead broke after signing the checks! Now that I can work on a new story, what do you guys want to read? [Email me][1]!

Love Love Aishiteru,

Pink Yuki

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Fuuko turned back to Kurei when she caught Mikagami's eyes. *How dare him taking Joker's date like that.* Fuuko thought furiously.

"Fuuko-han! Will you come with me so that I can take Neon back?" Joker pleaded.

Fuuko saw Kurei nodded and said, "Fine. Joker, let's go."

They moved through the crowd and got closed to Neon and Mikagami. "Mikagami, would you mind me switching partner with you?" Joker flashed his fanged grin and took Neon's hands before Mikagami could mutter a word.

"Well done, Neon-han." Joker murmured in Neon's ears. His eyes could be spotted twinkling mischievously behind the blue-tinted sunglasses.

"You are not bad yourself." Neon laughed. "So are the other two ready to complete the plan?" She smiled as Joker nodded and twirled her around to the music.

"Mi-chan! What do you think you are doing? Dancing with Neon like that." Fuuko pulled Mikagami towards the bar and quietly yelled at him.

"Why, are you jealous?" Mikagami answered teasingly.

"Why would I be jealous?" Fuuko quickly asked.

*Why did I say that?* Mikagami pondered. He looked at Fuuko's face, which was now flushed with frustration, and silently thought that she looked pretty with that healthy glow on her face. *Why now would I think the monkey is pretty?* He snickered.

"Stop grinning so evilly! Gee… you are hopeless." Fuuko shook her head and turned to walk away.

"She was trying to make Joker jealous." Mikagami called out the minute she turned, unconsciously reaching out for her hand. Mikagami was surprised at the begging tone in his voice. *Why would I be begging? I wanted her to stay a little longer… no. Why would I want her to be around?*

"That's it?" Fuuko turned back to face Mikagami. Unaware of Mikagami's grip on her, she gave a smile of relief.

*She looks so…relieved. Maybe she WAS jealous?* Mikagami stared at Fuuko's smile and suddenly remembered that he was still holding her hand. He let go immediately as his face turned scarlet.

"You… err… you…" He diverted his gaze from the dazzling girl in front of him to floor, trying hard his blush. "You look good tonight."

Fuuko blushed. "Thanks." She hesitated before continued. "You look great also. Better than most of the people, as usual." She giggled while looking around her.

"You think I look better than Quatre Winner over there?" He smiled. Why did he feel slightly jealous upon his words?

"Hmm…" Fuuko looked Mikagami up and down playfully, "No. Quatre is cuter." Fuuko laughed as Mikagami snorted. *Actually Mi-chan is cuter, but there is no way I would tell him that!* Fuuko grinned at her thought.

"Mikagami senpai! Fuuko-san!" They turned towards the voice. "Can you give me a hand here? I think Recca-kun has a little too much to drink…" Yanagi asked in a worried voice as she dragged a red faced Recca towards them.

"What have you done now?" Mikagami picked Recca up from the floor.

"Can you take him to the washroom? Maybe a cold splash on the face would sober him up." Yanagi started her puppy eyes attack. Mikagami just nodded and dragged Recca towards the door.

"Fuuko-san, why don't we drink a little before they come back?" Yanagi pulled Fuuko to the bar stool and stood behind the bar herself. "You have to try the Yanagi's Special!" She grinned at her friend.

-------------------------------------------

Recca walked stumbled into the washroom as Mikagami stood outside the door. Recca looked into the mirror, *Thank god the corridor was kind of dark, or else he would certainly notice that I am not drunk at all.* He grinned at himself. Holding his breath for 2 minutes was good enough to make his face as red as a tomato.

He turned on the tap. "Say, Mikagami, what do you think of Fuuko?" Recca smiled again. "Somehow I think you two look pretty darn well together." He splashed the water with his hand.

"What are you talking about?" Mikagami grunted. *Fuuko and I look good together? Maybe...* He unconsciously smiled.

Splash. Splash. "Yeah, I don't think niichan stand a chance if you decide to go for her." Recca yelled again. *Oh, endurance, Recca, endurance. You cannot laugh at such crucial moments.* Recca's face was red with laughter now.

*Heck, he is drunk anyway.* Mikagami thought to himself and yelled back. "You really think so?" 

"Oh yeahhhhh." Recca put his face into the water and let out a laugh. He shook his wet bangs and yelled back, "I think you two would make a really cute couple." He paused and continued. "So what do you think of Fuuko?"

Mikagami was silent. Recca splashed the water some more and thought he should probably check if Mikagami was still there when he heard Mikagami quietly said, "She is a nice girl. Beautiful. Intelligent."

*Bingo!* Recca grinned widely to himself and splashed the water one last time. "So do you like her? You know, romantically speaking?" Upon saying that he held his breathe. *I have to keep my face RED. Hold it Recca, hold it.*

"I...I..." Mikagami pondered at Recca's question. "I think I am." Mikagami said in a barely audible voice, but Recca still heard it.

Recca looked into the mirror and decided that his face was red enough. He walked out of the door and began his journey back to the party with Mikagami.

"Hime!" Recca giggled and threw himself at Yanagi, "He admitted it." He whispered into Yanagi's ears. Yanagi gave him a knowing grin and settled him on a stool.

"This is not Yanagi's special is it?" Mikagami pointed at the orange cocktail in front of Fuuko.

"Kurei, let's dance." Fuuko jumped up from her seat and walked over to the flame master nearby.

"Is she okay? Her face is all red." Mikagami asked Yanagi worriedly.

"Oh yeah." Yanagi smiled sweetly at Mikagami. Fuuko was red not because of the drink, but by Yanagi's comments on how cute Mikagami and she would look together. "So Mikagami senpai, shall I make you a Yanagi's Special also?"

-----------------------------------

Kurei and Fuuko were dancing in the middle of the crowd. "Since you are among the few girls here without a date, who do you like best here? I can introduce you to all the cute guys around." Kurei looked at Fuuko with a grin.

"It's ok." Fuuko simply smiled back.

Kurei smiled as he spotted Mikagami staring at them intently. *Ok, mission 4: Rubbing it in. Mission accomplished.* He thought as he hugged Fuuko a little tighter, only to notice Mikagami turned away with an annoyed expression.

*Everything is going as I planned.* Kurei smiled to himself. How fun it is to manipulate their feelings like this! Kurei waited for another two songs to end and looked over to see Recca nodding at him. Finally, the last part of the plan was in action.

"Why don't we go back for a drink or two? It's getting a little crowded here." Kurei shifted his gaze to the purple haired girl. Without waiting for a reply, Kurei dragged Fuuko back to the bar.

"Mi-chan! Did you drink a lot?" Fuuko looked at the red faced Mikagami. Little did she know what Yanagi and Recca said to him for the past twenty minutes! "Don't you think she looks good in that dress?" "Why don't you go take her out of Kurei's hands?" "Tokiya and Fuuko, sitting on a tree. K-I-S-S-…" No matter how much he protested the assault did not dampen a least bit.

"Yeah, Mikagami is the big drinker here!" Recca threw an arm on Mikagami's shoulders, which the latter frowned at the gesture.

"Well, judging from the redness he has on his face. I guess he is rather drunk." Fuuko looked over at Mikagami.

"Get OFF me." Mikagami hissed irritably at Recca. *What the hell is he talking about? I didn't even get to finish the first drink since sea monkey here keeps bugging me every second!*

"Yanagi, why don't you help me take Recca to the washroom again? Maybe he would sober up if we push him into a cold shower." Kurei read from his mental script.

"Sure." Yanagi quickly appeared from behind the bar and grabbed Recca's arm. Together the three of them fled the room as quickly as they could.

"So… you want to dance?" Mikagami felt like his courage was drained by the simple sentence, but he covered it well with his usual icy tone. *If you dare decline, Kirisawa, if you dare decline…* He thought nervously.

"I'd love to." Fuuko smiled warmly at the ensui wielder. *I thought he would never ask…* Her heart was pounding harder by the second and her smile widened.

-------------------------------------------

"So."

"So?"

"So."

"Mi-chan, what are you trying to say?" Fuuko was dancing to a slow tune with Mikagami in silence.

"So…say…" Mikagami said in a low voice as he held Fuuko a little closer, smelling the fragrance of her hair. "So…Say if Kurei ask you out, what would you do?" He moved his arms to encircle her completely.

"Mi-chan?" Fuuko was startled by the sudden closeness, yet she adjusted to it within seconds. "Kurei? Well, I guess I would have to say Gomen." She rested her head on Mikagami's shoulder.

Mikagami let out a soft sigh of relief. His hands trailed over her bare back, feeling the soft skin underneath his touch. He let one of his hands twirled around with Fuuko's soft hair and brought a strand to lightly kiss it.

Fuuko was enjoying the feeling of being in Mikagami's embrace. After all, she has dreamt of him holding her like this for the past few nights. She could hear Mikagami's heart beat clearly and felt oddly comfortable holding him. 

Once again they danced silently to the music. A few minutes passed before Fuuko heard Mikagami whispering in her ears. "So… what if I ask you out?" 

Fuuko felt like she was going to have a heart attack. The boy of her dreams, asking her out. *He is drunk. He IS drunk. Or else why would he say something like that?* Fuuko shifted herself inside Mikagami's embrace and reached her conclusion. *Since he won't remember a thing in the morning anyways…" She looked up to meet the ice blue eyes and moved forward to cover his lips with hers. 

Mikagami was not expecting a kiss from the purple haired girl in his arms. He was a little shocked by Fuuko's forwardness but nonetheless kissed back by instinct. He has muttered all the courage he could find in his body to ask her that and the answer was satisfying.

Fuuko was lost in the fiery kiss Mikagami returned. He was stroking her back slowly as he deepened the kiss. His hands on her back felt like burning iron as they left behind a tingling sensation everywhere they touched. Fuuko faintly heard people around them started the count down, but she was too far gone with the passion Mikagami fed her to pull away.

Mikagami felt like his body was on fire. It was not like he has never kissed a girl before in his life, but this burning sensation was a new experience for him. His mind seemed to be in space, stars were dancing in front of his eyes. It was not before she pulled away for air that he stopped. 

"Happy New Year, Mi-chan." Fuuko smiled at the boy in front of her

"Happy New Year." He smiled. "Say, do you want to go to the movies or something tomorrow?"

------------------------------------------------ 

Fuuko woke up in the morning as Ganko jumped onto her bed. "Happy New Year, Fuuko!" The little girl shouted. 

"Ganko! What time is it?" Fuuko asked lazily as she was still deep in the dream she had. Mikagami Tokiya, asking her to go out with him. How she wished he wasn't drunk when he said that! "Happy New Year." She turned her head and opened her eyes. 

"Ten o'clock in the morning. Come on, rise and shine!" Ganko started tickling the wind master and soon she jumped out of bed begging Ganko to stop. 

Fuuko freshened up and walked down stairs to the dinning room. She heard her father talking to someone. *Weird, who would come so early in the morning* She paused her steps when she heard her name. 

"Fuuko is a little tomboyish, but she is a nice girl!" Her father sounded like he was in tears. 

"I know." A deep baritone spoke in a cheery voice. *Who could that be? Uncle Masahiro? Uncle Tsuyoshi?* Fuuko tiptoed towards the dinning room hoping to steal a glance of the visitor. 

"Please take good care of her. I feel comfortable if Fuuko is going out with someone like you, Mikagami-san." Fuuko's father was sobbing when he said that. 

"Mikagami?" Fuuko rushed into the room. Her eyes were about to pop out as she saw the silver haired bishounen in HER dinning room. "What are you doing here?" 

"Ohayo." Mikagami turned to the bewildered girl in front of him. "Eggs?" 

"Oh yes please… NANI?" Fuuko looked around her. This is her house, her dinning room; Ganko's teddy bear can be spotted at the corner of the room. This HAD to be her house. Her dad has already slipped out of the room giving the two teenagers their privacy. "Mi-chan? What are you doing here? Why are you cooking me breakfast?" Fuuko asked in a confused voice. 

"Don't you remember we have a date today?" Mikagami took out two plateful of food and settled himself into the seat opposite Fuuko. 

"Date?" Fuuko was dumbstruck. 

"You promised you would go to the movies with me today." Mikagami calmly buttered his toast, the smile never leaving his face. "Remember?" 

"YOU remember?" Fuuko asked in awe. "You weren't drunk?" 

"No, in fact I wasn't able to get more than three drinks last night." Mikagami looked up at Fuuko with a questioning gaze, "Does it matter?" 

"Err… no." Fuuko was now blushing furiously. *He remembers. He REMEMBERS!* She hid her face behind the pile of food in front of her. 

"Let's get going when you are finished." Mikagami looked lovingly at the purple haired girl in front of him. "Is the food ok?" 

"It's great." Fuuko looked up from her plate. "Ano ne… you know I am going to go abroad after high school. So…" She voice trailed off as she resumed her concentration to the food in front of her. 

"I have decided where to go for college." Mikagami chuckled as he watched Fuuko's scarlet face. "Harvard." 

"Huh?" Fuuko quickly glanced up as Mikagami rose from his seat and walked over to Fuuko's side. 

Mikagami took Fuuko's hand and gently pulled her up. "Yes, Harvard. The renowned university a river across from Boston U." He brushed his lips lightly against hers. "There is no way you can get out of my hands now." He faked an evil laugh as Fuuko hugged him tightly. 

---------------------------------------- 

As soon as Mikagami and Fuuko walked out of the door, the teddy bear stood up and walked up the stairs. 

"Thank you, teddy-chan." Ganko smiled as she took the video camera from the teddy. The Kata Kugutsu was tied discreetly behind the teddy's tail. 

A figure came in from the window. "So you got it on tape?" 

"Koganei! How many times do I have to tell you? GET IN FROM THE FRONT DOOR!" Ganko turned around to see the familiar fanged grin. 

"Whatever." The anki wielder shrugged. "Let's go back to the Uruha mansion for our New Year's Special video now. Everyone is waiting." He smiled. 

------------------------------------------------- ~*Owari*~------------------------------------------------------

   [1]: mailto:pink_yuki@hotmail.com



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